Romeo Must Die!
by Sarazz Prime
Summary: AU. Some people will do anything to realize their dreams...even if it means disguising your female cousin as a boy to solidify a spot in one of the country's most prestigious allboy academy. If you don't believe it, just imagine how Ichigo Eniwa feels!
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** AU. Some people will do anything to realize their dreams...even if it means disguising your female cousin as a boy to solidify a spot in one of the country's most prestigious all-boy academy. If you don't believe it, just imagine how Ichigo Eniwa feels – her cousin Haruhi Fujioka's the one who cooked up this crazy scheme!

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**Disclaimer: **I claim no creative rights or ownership of the anime/manga OURAN HIGH HOST CLUB, as it the sole property of Bisco Hatori. The only small fraction will and do claim ownership to are the fictional characters and AU storyline introduced in the bit of fiction. Their theft will and shall be punishable by severe voodoo inflicted pain via wicked juju in the form of me strapping you down in a chair and forcing you to watch the filler arcs of Naruto...dubbed with their American voices, _hehe_.

**Author's Note:** This is an AU fanfiction. Yes, the dreaded OC introduced into a preexisting series to interact with preexisting characters. And like before, I cannot bring myself to even really care. This is my "for fun" story, my new chapter of playtime in the Ouran Host Club world. And before anyone starts asking or pointing it out, **_YES_**, Ichigo Eniwa is based off a good handful of my own favorite shonen characters that many are going to recognize. Whether or not this concept for a storyline is being used, I don't care. It struck my fancy while I was working on my other Ouran fanfic. No guarantees on regular updates. But I can say that this story will not be abandoned halfway through.

**Rating:** T

**Warning:** Will contain decent amounts of foul language, crude humor (because after all we're dealing with a bunch of boys), fight scenes, and some rather flipped and or exaggerated takes on the original cast of characters. Further warnings if found necessary, will be applied before the start of a chapter on a chapter-to-chapter basis when I them fit to be announced.

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**Romeo Must Die!**

**Chapter One**

_Responsibility to Family! The Deconstruction of Eniwa Ichigo!_

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_**Milly:** Hey, Mister Priest! What a peasant surprise!_

_**Wolfwood:** Ha! Pleasant._

– **Trigun: Episode 11 – Escape from Pain**

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"_Ouran Private Academy for Boys is defined by one, prestigious families, and two, wealth. It is a school that encompasses all grades from kindergarten to high school. The way this school works, makes it hard for 'commoners' to get in. They say it's pretty hard to be accepted as a special student unless you are a studious bookworm. Oh, and of course you have to be of the male gender, seeing as how it is a private boy's academy after all._

_The scholarship is offered to only **one** student per level. This makes keeping that scholarship spot very difficult if one is unable to maintain high grade scores, as well as being there on the first day to lock in your spot amongst the student body. However, thanks in part to a rather weird loophole, there is a way to maintain your scholarship if an unforeseen event occurs that hinders attendance for the first day extending through the semester._

_And it's thanks to this loop hole that scholarship student Fujioka Haruhi will be able to keep his scholarship without being at Ouran for the first semester."_

_That loophole you ask? Yeah, well that's where I come in. My name is Eniwa Ichigo. I'm sixteen years-old, and I'm the loophole that will make sure my cousin, Fujioka Haruhi, keeps his scholarship to Ouran Private Academy for Boys. Oh, yes, and by the way; I am a girl._

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**One Week Ago...**

The sitting room was quiet. Unbearably quiet. The only thing moving in that room were the pale yellow curtains that had been pushed off to the side to expose the open four-square paned window, and now danced in a slow motion under the breath of mild spring breeze. At the center of the sitting room, seated on opposite sides of the _kotatsu_ (the blanket still present since early spring weather held the last bit of winter's chill to its breath), were two teenagers around fifteen or sixteen years old. One was a boy with short brown hair, the other was a girl with long shoulder length orange hair (and despite what anyone would say at first glance, it was in fact her natural color). They held different eye colors; the boy sporting a matching brown to his hair, and the girl a deep amber. Though hair and eye colors differed, there was a certain likeness in their overall physical appearance, especially in the face and their stature.

They were cousins through the boy's mother's side of the family. Fujioka Haruhi and Eniwa Ichigo.

However, the girl Ichigo, sat with an even look on her face and arms crossed rather roughly over her chest as she eyed her cousin with what looked like disdain or even annoyance at this point. Haruhi, sat in silence, eyes only half-glancing at his cousin while wringing his hands beneath the table, his own face pulled in by a sense of doubt and possible depression.

"So," Ichigo spoke up, breaking the silence that had been rolling between them for the past twenty minutes now. "Let me get this straight. _Oyaji_ was in Kyoto visiting _Obachan_, when he slipped on wet stairs coming out of the house, and broke his leg. And now, since _Obachan_ is still working, she can't be there to take care of him at the house since he can't travel back yet, and now you need to go to Kyoto to take care of him until he gets his cast removed."

Haruhi nodded.

"But you've been accepted into Ouran Private Academy for Boys through a scholarship, and you need to attend the first semester in order to keep your spot valid. And since you need to go take care of Oyaji, you can't attend the first semester. But through a loophole you found out about, you can keep your scholarship so long as someone else occupies your place and transfers out at the end of the semester when you come back."

Again, Haruhi nodded.

"And so, to pull off this little feat, you want me to be the one who takes your place in Ouran and transfer out at the end of the semester when I graduate to the next grade. Neh?" Ichigo pulled an arched brow up in furtherance of her little run over of what she had already been told.

Haruhi nodded once more. "Uh, yeah. That's pretty much it." He replied while wincing slightly at the look on his cousin's face.

Another round of silence would ensue for about fifteen seconds before Ichigo's face screwed up into a rather agitated look as she flipped the kotatsu. "And just how in the hell am I supposed to pull that off?!" She snapped. The kotatsu landed off to the side beneath the open window with a thud. Jabbing her cousin in the chest with an index finger, Ichigo's scowl remained ever apparent. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but this a _private boy's academy_, and I don't if you've noticed or not, but I'm a girl!" She now pointed at herself to further emphasize her rather valid point.

Haruhi stammered out a rather sheepish chuckle while scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, I know. But you're my only hope at this point, since your grade and test scores are just as high as mine. If I don't get someone to hold my place for this scholarship, it's going to be twice as hard for me to get in during my second year. Ichigo-chan!" Haruhi scooted forward across the floor and snatched up his cousin's hands while bowing his head at the same time. "Please, I don't know what else to do. I want to go make sure dad's okay, but I don't want to miss my chance of getting into such a prestigious place like Ouran! Ichigo-chan, please, I'm begging you to help me!"

Stunned silent by the words of her cousin, Ichigo felt as though her doubts about this idea and even agreeing to it were incredibly selfish of her to have. Even though it would mean missing out on her own first year of high school elsewhere, at least she would have that small bit of credit under her belt of having studied at Ouran. _Ah crap! I wouldn't be able to put that down anyways if I have to possibly lie about my gender and cross-dress! Oh my god, I'm becoming like Oyaji!! _Groaning, Ichigo slumped in her seated position on the floor so that her chin rested against the top of her chest. _But, if I don't do this, Haruhi misses out on something he's worked so hard for in the first place...crap..._ Looking up as she took in a deep breath, Ichigo closed her eyes off to the world as it was important that she maintained a rather stern look on her person. "You are so gonna owe me big time for this." She muttered beneath her breath.

However quiet she had meant for it to be, Haruhi had heard it and his head snapped up quickly with eyes wide in complete surprise and utter joy to what she had just said. "Ichigo-chan...are, are you serious?! You'll help me?!" A massive grin was slowly spreading out across his face. The defeated glance down at him was enough for Haruhi to spring forward off his knees and tackle his cousin to floor with one heck of a hug. "ARIGATO ICHIGO-NEECHAN!" He cried out, the corners of his eyes holding happy tears as a wave of relief washed over him.

"Okay, okay! Your undying gratitude is noted, now get off me!" Ichigo shouted while squirming beneath his embrace. "Seriously, Haruhi, get off!" Somehow she managed to pry her grateful cousin off and set him back in his own little space across from her. "Have you at least gotten your new uniform? We need to at least see if it'll even fit."

"Uh, yeah! It came yesterday actually." Haruhi motioned for Ichigo to stand and follow him as he got up and pattered his way across the sitting room and off down the hall to his room. Once inside the small bedroom, Haruhi pulled a long white rectangular shaped cardboard box out from underneath his bed. Sitting down on the ground, Haruhi removed the flimsy lid that covered the box and moved aside the sheets of tissue paper to reveal the powder blue uniform jacket bearing a shield shaped patch on the left breast. The capital letters of O and R were set at an angle from one another in gold thread on a black background. Holding the jacket up for Ichigo to see, Haruhi peeked out from behind the long sleeves and gave her a hopeful look.

Sighing, Ichigo took the jacket and looked it over. "Well, it looks like it could fit." She mused while whipping it about and setting it against her own body frame. "What do you think?" Her amber gaze flickered over to her cousin with a bemused look pulling across her features.

"I think it might just end up looking better on you than me." Haruhi stated with a rather impressed look on his face. "Try it on."

Shrugging, Ichigo agreed and tossed the jacket on the bed and removed the long sleeved sweater she was wearing over a pale silver t-shirt. Yanking the uniform jacket on, Ichigo smirked to herself as she buttoned up the only two buttons on the piece. Flicking her long hair out from beneath the collar of the jacket, Ichigo faced Haruhi and held her arms out. "Well?"

"You're right about one thing." Haruhi's mouth twitched into a crooked grin. "I totally owe you for this, beyond big time."

**Oyaji: **It is an informal word meaning "dad". It is a juvenile linguistic corruption of _oyachichi_, which means "father". The word, used to describe one's father, is very rough and not polite, and its use is usually confined to men. It is also used in Japan to refer to middle-aged men.

**Obachan: **Means elderly woman, grandmother.

**Kotatsu:** A low wooden table frame covered by a futon, or heavy blanket, upon which a table top sits. Underneath is a heat source, often built into the table itself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

_High School Is Not Polite_

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_**Phil Connors: **(to the groundhog) Don't drive angry. - _**Groundhog Day**

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**First Day of School...**

The last thralls of winter's breath had since disappeared as spring ushered in the start of the new school semester. Morning was cool and light with a soft perfumed breeze blowing in to curl through the branches of buddings trees. The sky was free of clouds, allowing the sun to light the world without the passing puffs of white to blotted it out and dim the day.

The great sprawling campus of Ouran Private Academy for Boys was an impressive display of what wealth and private funding could provide. Numerous pearly white buildings with either pale rose or cornflower blue tile decorating the A-Frame roofs and domed cathedral tops; littered the grounds in picturesque alignment with pristine grassy courtyards, elegant gardens, and cobblestone pathways intertwining amongst them to create the infamous school grounds that educated some of the country's most successful business men and even government politicians.

By fifteen till eight the campus was alive with hundreds of male students from kindergarten and up, milling about on their own towards homeroom before the first bell sent out its tolling ring. Most of the older boys who were in the high school department collected about the front gates, greeting friends they hadn't seen since junior high graduation, meeting up with friends in their class from the other year that they had moved up with, or just standing around to check out new students who had transferred into Ouran from outside schools of equal social status or just starting school (as was the case with many kindergärtners walking in with parents).

However, all eyes would turn to stare at one new student in particular whose presence sent a hush over most of those gathered at the main gates. Short almost spiky orange hair that stuck out in an uncooperative manner was the first thing they all noticed since it struck out against the powder blue of the uniform's jacket with both a look of awkwardness and perfect blending. A rather unamused and yet unsure look crossed the face of the new student, who stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the rest of the student body, **and this was just the front gate.**

Glancing at the rather awestruck boys who had begun to murmur amongst one another now with question and wondering as to who this new guy was, this new guy felt a sinking feeling drop through the bottom of his stomach. _Ah man, this is exactly what I was hoping to avoid! _Teeth gritting beneath his lips, the orange-haired student adjusted the strap of his book bag and shoved aside those nervous feelings that threatened to push him elsewhere in his sense of thinking, and proceeded to walk forward through the gates.

Ignoring the stares and pointing fingers, the boy shoved his hands into the pockets of the black slacks that finished up the other half of the school uniform. His brow furrowed enough to almost produce a scowl that he was now forcing to rid his face of, seeing as how this would provide a bad first impression, and tried to appear a bit more friendly and approachable without looking too, well, _fruity_. This caused his face to twist and pull into a very weird expression that crossed a scowl with a smile and offered out something that had a lot of the other boys backing up a bit out of caution to the new kid.

_Goddamn you rich bastards._ The boy groaned mentally while picking up his pace in order to pass out from under the stares before he did anything else to either embarrass himself or earn him an unwanted reputation of having the worst walk on to a campus. Unfortunately, the pressure to remain calm and collected appeared to be too much for the boy, and before anyone in the yard could blink, a trail of dust wafted in his absence as the boy tore a path across the whole front and disappeared off somewhere headed towards the main office.

This quick exit had left each and every one of the male students in the yard to stare after him, a bead of sweat rolling down their temple. Yeah...awesome first impression made.

Panting heavily after having completed what felt like a mile long dash at a dead sprint, the new student leaned up against the door of the main office in a haphazard manner. "Oh...my...god...! Since when did I ever posses the ability to run like that?!" He muttered through gasps for air as he tried to push himself up into a much straighter stance.

"Um, can I help you young sir?" A very apparent female voice spoke up from somewhere in front of the boy. By the tone and volume of the voice itself, it was near unmistakable that the woman who had spoken was more than likely well into her sixties. And thus, this would prove to be very true as a weary amber gaze looked up to meet an aged pair of eyes that danced still with the light from former days of youth.

Straightening himself rather quickly, the boy quickly adjusted his black tie stripped down the middle with one thin purple line that added another splash of color to the uniform. Proceeding forward towards the rather elegant looking desk where possibly one of the very few woman on campus sat with a friendly look on her face; he stopped just before the front lip and bowed politely. "My name is Eniwa Ichigo. I'm a new student here on a scholarship."

"Ah, yes. I've been expecting you." She grinned, although a flash of something else crossed the surface of her gaze. "So, you're Fujioka-san's cousin? Well, he's lucky to have someone like you to help him out in this rather sticky situation." Her grin remained ever present while she rummaged through the stacks of paperwork piled in the top right hand corner of her desk. "My name is Umino Chidori. School secretary here at Ouran." She glanced up briefly from the corner of her eye at the boy who introduced himself as Eniwa Ichigo, with a teasing jest pulling at the corner of her mouth.

Whatever small tease that she had meant in gently mocking his introduction in order to ease the rather obvious nerves he had, was lost on Ichigo as he merely nodded in obvious response to her introduction. "Nice to meet you Sensei."

She held back a small laugh behind her lips. Finding the several sheets of paper she had been looking for, Umino-sensei turned to once again face Ichigo, and held out the papers. "Your schedule for the semester, your dorm room number and directions to the dormitories, and of course a map of the school with the names of each building." She explained the purpose of what she handed out to him, watching the look on Ichigo's face as he took the pieces from her. "If you have any questions or have trouble finding a classroom, the other boys here will be more than happy to help you out as well as any member of the faculty." Umino-sensei smiled.

Looking between the smiling older woman and the papers in his hand, Ichigo felt that rather dropped feeling reappear in his stomach as the reality of him being apart of the academy now, bitch slapped him across the face with a _harisen. _"T-Thank you sensei." He swallowed hard while setting a nervous hand on the back of his neck and bowed his head respectfully.

After receiving detailed directions on how to reach the 1-A homeroom, Ichigo excused himself and left as quickly as possible while trying not to look any more out of place than he already did. Following the given directions to the nearest degree possible, Ichigo soon found himself standing outside the massive building that housed the high school department. Staring up at the looming monolithic structure that blotted out the sun with its sharp A-Frame point, Ichigo's free hand clutched tightly about the strap of his school bag that lay slung across his chest. That empty feeling that bottomed out his stomach, yeah, that had nothing on what gripped him entirely at that given moment.

Fear, anxiety, terror, excitement, and possible unknown fury towards his cousin for getting him this far into what could end up being a very horrible mess if things didn't work out right; all ran through Ichigo and drained the healthy tone from his face. Now white as a sheet and bearing a rather distraught look as well, he seemed oblivious to the fact that the homeroom period bell was now ringing. After the first initial seven seconds of complete blank, Ichigo snapped back into the present time and scrambled through the high arching double doors of the high school building.

Under a record time of thirty seconds flat, Eniwa Ichigo had zipped up nearly two large flights of stairs that landed him on the floor that housed the 1-A, 1-B, and 1-D classrooms. Setting foot on the third floor of the building, Ichigo was breathing heavily, with school bag strap falling off his shoulder, the lapels of his jacket flipped up and out in a weird angle, and hair sticking out in an even weirder position; he looked as though something had run him over and then backed up. "Damn this rich-blood school." Ichigo muttered, his hands gripping tightly to the banister column while he literally hung off it with legs outstretched down the stairs.

"Tch, you see what I see Kaoru?"

"Indeed I do Hikaru. He looks like something the cat dragged in."

Two near identical voices spoke up from somewhere ahead of Ichigo, causing the boy to look up with at first a rather confused face as he was unsure as to whether or not they were talking specifically about him. Unfortunately, as Ichigo laid eyes on two identical faces framed by long bangs that blended into back sweeping curls of short hair that looked to be about somewhere in the ginger color range. Ichigo wondered at first if this was their true hair color, but had to smack himself mentally as he was reminded that this was the exact same question people imposed on his own orange tone. Focusing back on the apparent twins before him, one of them stood with his arms crossed over his chest in a rather nonchalant manner, while other folded his arms over his brother's shoulder in a lazy manner.

They were twins. Mirror copied of one another, right down to the equal height and mannerisms they were displaying. Both boys held rather aloof but very much amused looks on their faces as they stared down their noses at Ichigo with glinting hazel eyes. Their airy stares sent a rather unnerving chill down his spine. Brushing it off, Ichigo pulled himself up to his feet and while straightening his appearance out, he coughed quietly to clear his throat before speaking up. "Konnichiwa."

"Ho? It can speak after all Kaoru." The boy with his arms crossed over his chest quirked an eyebrow as he spoke. "I guess you win the bet." A very smug grin began to pull at the corners of his mouth as he spoke.

The other boy, called Kaoru apparently, nodded in agreement while smirking as well. "It would seem that way Hikaru. I'll let you know what I want for my prize later when we're alone."

This caused a choked look to take hold of Ichigo's face. _What the hell...? _"Um, yes, well, I'll just be going now." Ichigo muttered as he finally picked up on the fact that the twins standing there were judging him like some sort of animal or inanimate object being auctioned off. Ichigo hated that kind of stare. Walking off down the hall to his right, Ichigo forced himself not to react to the comments that trailed after him.

"Hmph. Commoner."

"No manners at all."

"They must be making those scholarship exams too easy if they're accepting guys with fake hair."

"Indeed they must be."

Gritting his teeth, Ichigo curled a fist out of both hands and stared down at the thick carpeted floor he was treading upon. _Being such a prestigious school, you'd think the students would at least have much more dignified attitudes towards new people coming. Rich bastards. _Restricting what would have been a growl, Ichigo finally came upon the classroom for the 1-A class. The door was shut of course, but the sounds of other student voices were apparent behind it. Timidly, Ichigo reached out for the door knob and eventually set his hand upon the graceful brass carving. However, the chance to click the latch itself and open the door on his own, would be thwarted.

The door opened from the inside and swung out towards the hall. There wasn't enough time given in order for Ichigo to avoid the heavy slab of carved wood, and immediately his nose was smacked by the swing of the door. "Itai!" Ichigo sputtered while stumbling backwards into the hall and clutched at his nose with both hands. Begging thoughts screamed through his head at the distraught of a possible bloody nose or even a broken one at that.

Laughing exited the classroom as whoever had swung the door open was oblivious to the fact that they had hit someone in their departure. Still the laughing continued as Ichigo used the wall further down from the door to steady himself while he attended to his nose, and since the door was wide open, he was unable to see who it was exactly that had popped him one without even knowing it. Someone called out from inside the classroom and started up another bout of laughter. Squinting through blurry vision obscured by tears that slipped across to gather at the outside corners of his eyes in response to the stinging pain, Ichigo could only make out the fact that whoever had hit him with door was tall and light-haired.

Other than that, the first year never got a better look as he started to blink rapidly in order to clear out the fog and try entering the classroom one more time without having a bone broken in the process. Peeking in around the door, Ichigo froze. The class room was pretty big as it held near over twenty or so desks, each one minus three towards the back, were occupied in way or another by a male student. _Great_.

"Ah, you there!"

Startled, Ichigo looked around frantically and soon found that the teacher standing at the front of the classroom was pointing at him specifically. Lifting a forced brow of question as his face still retained that ever apparent look of drained shock. "H-Hai?!"

The teacher, a man who appeared to be in his late forties with greying hair apparent on his temples, grinned while beckoning with a wave of the hand for the boy to enter the room and come to him. Stepping as quietly as possible into the room, as he wanted to avoid drawing the undivided attention of the class upon himself at that moment, Ichigo approached the teacher and then bowed quickly. "Eniwa-san?" The teacher asked aloud while lifting a brow. A rather speedy nod from the boy was enough for him, and the teacher grinned even further. "Pleasure to meet you, Eniwa-san. I'll be your first year teacher for the next semester; Hiyama Ryuuga." He introduced himself, eyes darting off towards the door briefly, his grin faltering a bit before he regained it just as quickly and nodded at the new kid in his class. "That's an interesting hair color you got there."

"It's not fake sensei." Ichigo stammered quickly, hoping his first impression on the teacher wasn't going to be a bad one. "I swear it's my natural color. I'll show you my student ID, birth certificate even!"

Chuckling at the flustered state his student was in, Hiyama-sensei just shook his head. "It's fine, I believe you." Turning to face the class, he clapped his hands twice and called for their attention. Once the conversations dropped and seats were properly taken, Hiyama-sense nodded. "Right, we have a new student to Ouran that I would like to introduce to you today. This is Eniwa Ichigo-san. He's here on a scholarship. Please treat him with the same respect and courtesy you treat your other peers with."

_Oh yes, and by the way! I'm cross-dressing and pretending to be a boy in order to make sure my cousin doesn't loose his spot here – at this school, with all you rich bastards! Isn't that great?! Now say, 'konnichiwa' like a bunch of little robots!_

"Konnichiwa, Eniwa-san." The whole class greeted the orange-haired boy in a unified monotone as if they were anything but unimpressed, but fronted their welcome anyways. It made Ichigo cringe.

"Eniwa-san, why don't you go sit in the back with Kaoru-kun and Hikaru-kun." Hiyama-sensei pointed out the empty seat off in the back right corner near the full length window that ran with several others across the wall from floor to ceiling.

He had already winced after hearing those two names, because after all, it was hard to come across someone else with identical names to a set of rather rude twins, in the same day, in the same building, and in the same class as you. Ichigo blinked dumbly a few times as he just stared at the twin brothers sitting in the back with rather bored looks on their faces. _I've stepped into the seventh circle of hell, haven't I?_ Exhaling quietly as he picked his way through the class, Ichigo was close to glaring down at his shoes as he sat down in the empty desk, having had no other choice to pick the one in between the two boys as they had obviously made the effort to sit on either side. _Haruhi, I'm going to murder you!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

_He Who Fights to Run Away, Lives to Run Away Again!_

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"_Are you, or are you not the Black Angel of Death?_" – _**Steve, **__**Black Sheep**_

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By the time the lunch period bell had rung, Ichigo could have sworn his ears were burning. Every long winded speech and or lecture given to the 1-A class had seemed repetitive and never-ending as the teacher outlined his setup for the semester curriculum in near pain stacking detail. Once the bell rang though, the whole class got up and tromped out of the room making a bee-line for the cafeteria as their stomachs griped and grumbled in want of food. Slipping out amongst his classmates to avoid the teacher, who seemed a bit keen on picking out the new student for whatever reason, Ichigo fell into the trickle of humanity that pushed into one direction.

Going against the flow seemed a bit out of question, but Ichigo managed to veer off down a side hall that merely echoed with the passing footsteps. Taking the moment to catch his breath, Ichigo exhaled heavily as he mentally picked away at the mere starting events of the day. So far he had been gawked at, judged by the secretary, teased by two classmates, critiqued by the teacher, and now he found himself surrounded by halls that looked as though they should be the interior design to some monolithic cathedral or castle in Europe. Running a hand through his orange colored hair, Ichigo allowed his hand to rest on the back of his neck while he glanced off to the side to stare out the large floor to ceiling windows that made up the out facing wall of the hall.

The grounds of the academy campus were very nice as their constant upkeep kept them in pristine condition, the buildings of pearly white bricks and pale mortar were amazing structures that spun a sense of elegance and timeless class to the campus. It was all impressive when you looked at it, but inside it was a whole other story. There was every cliché group that one could think of, along with the vast range of rich-kid attitude to be found (case in point being the twins that snubbed Ichigo in the hall before homeroom). High school was high school no matter where it was or who ran it.

Exhaling heavily, Ichigo looked up at the powder blue sky overhead where large puffs of cloud cover had suddenly appeared and were now drifting lazily off across a vast open space that shouted utter freedom. Deep amber stared with a longing gaze after the clouds as Ichigo suddenly felt rather confined within the walls of the massive building. _There's just no way in hell I'm going to eat in the cafeteria._ He grimaced at the thought of the stares that would occur all over again. _Forget that! _

An idea suddenly struck the first year, and instead of making the bee-line for the cafeteria, Ichigo wandered around for around twenty minutes before he opened the small metal door that was the only entrance access to the completely flat roof of the high school department building. A vast area half the size of a football field was just smooth flat concrete while the rest of the roof was A-framed and tiled. The perfect spot for a new kid who didn't want the stares of the rich-blood on him while he ate a homemade lunch packed by himself. Closing the door and making his way across the roof top to the edge where a high rail and fenced mesh provided a safety net to anyone on the roof.

It was different looking out across the campus from high above versus out the window, but either way it still made Ichigo cringe. Taking a seat with back against the fence, Ichigo pulled out the o-bento box he had packed into his school bag. Last night's fried vegetables, rice, and fried egg was a rather good meal, and taking his time in eating it, Ichigo felt a rather sinking feeling hit him as he slowly started to realize that today was just only the beginning of a whole school year in which he would face so many odd situations as well as rather unpleasant confrontations with the other students and possibly even the faculty.

"Haruhi, if you weren't family, I'd shake you to death." Ichigo muttered before popping food into his mouth. _Well, I guess it could be absolutely worse than what's happened so far. I could have been bullied and beaten up. _That was not exactly the most comforting thought, and Ichigo slapped himself mentally for it.

Lunch lasted for almost a good hour and a half before the bell chimed out and called for students to return to their classes. Amongst them, Ichigo appeared, shouldering his school bag and collecting his nerves to face the rest of the day. However, as he made his way back to the 1-A classroom by following a few of the other boys he recognized from the class, but Ichigo would never make it all the way back to class. From either side of the orange-haired boy, the twins appeared and hooked him by either arm in order to yank him off down some other corridor where the high ceilings arched into a point and trailed off for seemed like near forever with a cranberry colored carpet.

Confused at the rather sudden extraction from the main crowd body, Ichigo looked about quickly to both get his bearings and asses this new situation. Different hall. Sided by the twins he was seated between in class. Stared down with intrigued looks that were a bit unsettling. _Crap._ "Uh, h-hey guys. Have a nice lunch?" Ichigo forced himself to sound as polite as possible without over acting to avoid further teasing that was possibly about to come down on him.

The twin with his hair parted off from the left lifted a inquisitive brow in response, the fairest hint of a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Actually, we were rather bored, and disappointed." He replied smoothly while lifting his hands up in a shrug.

"Indeed were very bored and very disappointed." The other twin, his hair parted from the right, added in his agreement to this statement made by his brother.

Ichigo stared at them with a rather dumbfounded look. "I'm..sorry?" He edged out a confused apology of some kind as he wasn't sure if he should be even commenting on this or not.

"You should be." The second twin stated, hands planted on his hips while an indigent stare was directed at Ichigo. "Skipping out on lunch like that. Tsk, tsk, you won't make friends like that." He wagged an index finger at the boy he was apparently reprimanding.

The first twin nodded while stroking the tip of his chin. "You know, Eniwa-san, I don't believe we've introduced ourselves to you yet." He snickered while coming around to stand beside his brother, arm propping up on his brother's shoulder as he used him to lean upon in a rather saucy stance.

"Hitachiin Hikaru." The second twin introduced himself, a rather cheeky grin on his lips while those golden hazel eyes of his gleamed with a rather impish mirth that sent a chill shiver down Ichigo's spine.

"Hitachiin Kaoru." The first twin introduced himself next, the same grin and gleam playing about his features. "Eniwa-san, you're a commoner aren't you?" He asked, curious to know whether or not this odd little rumor was in fact true, but his keen eye for those of his social status already assured him that this one was in fact a **commoner**.

"C-Commoner?" Ichigo stammered out as he was a bit taken back by this question as well as rather insulted. Though the former won out over the latter at the moment.

Hikaru snickered at the stricken look on Ichigo's face. "Yes, commoner. That's what you are, neh? After all, you had to come into Ouran with scholarship." The right corner of his mouth twitched.

For Ichigo, that felt as if someone had punched him right in the stomach. That sort painfully hallow feeling that knocks the wind right out you but still leaves you standing but injures you right down the core. Either out of embarrassment or something else entirely, Ichigo lowered his head, chin just barely at the tip of resting against the smooth fabric of the tie about his neck. This caused the twins to snicker in unison as they appeared to have struck a rather decent blow on the new kid. What they didn't see though, were the hands curling into fists at Ichigo's sides.

"Hmph, looks like the cat's got his tongue." Kaoru glanced over at his brother sideways. "Pity, I had hoped we would find some fun in this new _toy_."

"Well what else could be expected of a commoner anyways? Dull." Hikaru shrugged while crossing his arms casually before he started to massage his right temple. "Oh well." He exhaled a heavy sigh as he started forward to pass the new kid and head back to class now that he was bored, Kaoru following after him.

Letting them pass, a rather odd little smirk pulled up the corners of Ichigo's mouth as he listened to them finally put a few feet between them. "Commoner on a scholarship, eh?" Ichigo muttered, loud enough for them to hear as well since the twins paused and cast half lidded glances back over their shoulders. Ichigo lifted his head high but didn't look back at his classmates. "Somehow, that statement seems to compliment me more than you would want it to." Ichigo sent a rather searing glare over his shoulder, that deep amber gaze void and near unforgiving for the snide remarks made at his expense.

Both boys appeared to be choked and aught off-guard as for once someone else was rising up to meet them at their own game. They exchanged confused looks with one another but ultimately looked at the orange-haired kid who had turned sideways in order to better stare at them with a challenge written across his gaze. Silence crept through that hall as neither party spoke and from the fact that everyone else had returned to their classes now. It was Ichigo who moved first, pressing his way around the twins and walking back to class.

As he passed by them, Ichigo slowed just enough for them to hear one last thing muttered out in a sarcastic apology of sorts. "I'm sorry I got into this school on my own IQ instead of my parent's money."

Now it was Hikaru and Kaoru's turn to feel as though someone had punched them in the gut. Their jaws dropped and in all about three seconds they became incredibly flustered and were ready to snap back with far more hurtful things, but as they looked to Ichigo they realized they were alone in that hall. Gritting his teeth, hands clenched into fists, Hikaru looked as though he were on the verge of bursting into angry flames. Kaoru on the other hand, though just as mad, held a more pouting and pensive look on his face as he stared off down the hall.

"Looks like we were wrong about him." Kaoru huffed as he crossed his arms.

"Indeed it does look to be that way." Hikaru hissed through his clenched teeth while the eyebrow over his left eye twitched in annoyance to being put in his place.

While the twins fumed over the whole thing, Ichigo had since plastered himself back first against the wall of the main hall just outside the one he had literally raced out of. Panting heavily and looking as though he had lost one of nine lives, Ichigo silently threatened his cousin all over again with a painful death while creeping his way along the hall back towards class as fast as possible. The twins were pissed, and Ichigo knew he had possibly stepped over a line that someone like himself really shouldn't have crossed on the first day of school.

_Yeah right! They deserved it, calling me a commoner! Just because I don't live in a house the size of a mall doesn't mean they can treat me like that! Rich-bastards. Don't think I won't bite back when provoked!_

A sense of greater confidence started to swell within Ichigo as he pulled himself off the wall, however the sound of footsteps coming his way from behind banished that feeling and sent him sprinting off down the hall, disappearing before anyone else caught a hold of him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

_One Day Down...God I Want to Kill Myself_

* * *

"_I'll give you a winter prediction: It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's gonna last the rest of your life."_ _** – Phil Connors, ****Groundhog Day**_

* * *

_Why the hell did I agree to this stupid idea anyways?! Seriously, how am I gonna get through an entire semester without having my cover blown?! Someone's gonna find out, some way, some how! Dammit!_

Ichigo swung the book bag down on the floor with a heavy thud before sitting down cross-legged in a huff, arms crossing to further show the irritable disposition radiating out from the teen. It was then that the orange-haired first year seemed to finally flip out as he scrambled to yank off his uniform jacket, tie, and crisp white dress shirt. There was a flurry of discarded clothing before Ichigo managed to force a calmer intake of breath, hands held out as if to ease away the stress. Without the upper pieces to the uniform, Ichigo was left sitting in the middle of the living room in a tank top and black slacks. Wrapped about the tank top, primarily concentrated on the upper chest, was a four inch wide Ace bandage that was normally used by athletes to wrap sprains or give needed support. However, the Ace bandage wrapped about Eniwa Ichigo wasn't for a sprain, but in some sense it was being used for support.

It was the only way to help further disguise the cross-dressing cousin and push the appearance of a teen boy, and it was a painful method in her opinion. Eniwa Ichigo, fifteen years old, first year in high school, had just spent the first day of school parading around as a boy. It was all for a good cause, but that moment, Ichigo was beginning to regret agreeing to the idea in the first place. High school was tough enough to get through without the added stress of being found out as a cross-dresser and possibly getting your cousin expelled from one of the country's most prestigious schools. _I'm a glutton for punishment, both physical and mental._ Ichigo sighed mournfully as she turned over on to her side, arms outstretched above her head.

If today had been any indication, tomorrow was going to be just as worse if not magnified ten fold thanks to a duo of classmates who seemed hellbent on making her life miserable at Ouran. "I don't know what hurts more, being surrounded by an entire school full of good looking and smart guys, or being picked on and teased by a school full of good looking and smart guys." Ichigo muttered to herself.

Before she could even start to answer her own question, the phone rang from its corner in the room, prompting Ichigo to scramble up from her place on the floor and snatch the cordless receiver up off its hook. "Hai, mushi mushi?"

"_Ah, Ichigo-neechan! You're home from school already?" _Haruhi's voice floated over across the line, the slight sound of surprise tinting his words.

Lifting a brow in response to the question, and already recognizing the voice of her cousin, Ichigo held a slightly puckered look on her face. "Uh, yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"_Oh, no, I didn't mean it that way."_ Haruhi stammered. _"I thought maybe you would have stuck around Ouran to get a better feel for the place or something."_

This caused a rather sour look to scribble its way across Ichigo's face. "Trust me, I got a good enough feel of Ouran while I was in school. I don't think it would have been necessary to stick around afterwards."

Haruhi chuckled sheepishly from the other end. _"Yeah I guess you're right. So who's teaching 1-A?"_

"Hiyama Ryuuga." She replied. Taking a seat on the floor, Ichigo leaned back against the wall of the room, free arm draping across her lap as she stared off across the small living space. "He seems like a nice enough guy, but I suppose that could change over the semester. Likes to talk a lot too." A smirk pulled at the corner of her mouth while she scratched at the tip of her nose. "How's oyaji doing?"

"_He's fine. Complains and whines a lot since he can't get up and do things or go out."_ Somewhere in the distant background there was a loud shout of some kind that sounded like a question, and it caused Ichigo's brow to furrow a bit as she tried to identify what had been said. However, _"Yes, it's her!...No you can't talk to her right now...because I am!...I said no!"_

For a moment Ichigo could have sworn she heard some sort of scuffle, the shouts and cursing of two individual voices before the distinct click of anther line picking up appeared.

"_Ah-ha, KONNICHIWA ICHIGO-CHAN!"_

The loud greeting caused a huge strain on the proper volume code and sent a screeching electrical fuzz over the line, and nearly blew Ichigo's ear out had it not been for the fact that she held the phone as far away from her ear as possible at the right time. A look of both fear and irritation consumed Ichigo's face after the end of the unnecessarily loud greeting, and in response, Ichigo held the phone in the same she would have her uncle had he been there. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! ARE YOU TRYING DAMAGE MY HEARING?!"

"_Wah, Ichigo-chan is so cruel to her uncle!"_ Fujioka Ryoji wailed on his end of the phone line like some small child who had just been scolded. _"I'm all the way in Kyoto, injured with my dear son taking care of me, and all you can do is yell at me for expressing my joy in hearing your voice?"_

Ichigo scowled. "Don't try and turn this around on me!" She shot back while finally holding the phone to her ear again. "What happened to Haruhi?"

"_I'm still here."_ Haruhi's voice reappeared on the line, although now it was brimming with subdued irritation. _"Ichigo, I never did ask you how the first day was."_

For a second Ichigo stiffened, her face contorting to a choked look before started muttering to stall time as her brain searched for a way to explain the first day without making it sound as though she regretted helping Haruhi out. _That's the last thing I want to do to him. _"Eh, uh, well it was different." Ichigo stated slowly. "I think my hair attracted more attention than I wanted though."

"_Ah yes, your dear mother's trademark. It's such a shame you had to cut it, but all for a good cause of course! Your mother would be proud Ichigo-chan!"_ Ryoji announced in a more than necessary chipper manner.

"_I hope no one gave you a hard time because of your hair neechan."_ The bothered worry was clearly evident in Haruhi's voice as he spoke, prompting a rather decent smile to appear on Ichigo's lips. _"Ichigo, I really do appreciate what you're doing for me."_

Exhaling a quiet sigh, Ichigo rubbed at the middle of her forehead. "Forget it. You deserve the chance to go to Ouran, so whatever I can do to help you, you know I'm there." She cringed at the sore reminder her aching chest decide to poke her with at that moment. "Even if it means being a bit uncomfortable during the day." She rubbed at the spot on the side of her ribs while speaking.

"_Eh?! What's uncomfortable?!"_ Ryoji nearly exploded again, but was immediately shouted down by Haruhi before he could raise his voice any further.

"_Otosan! Leave Ichigo alone!"_ Haruhi snapped before the sound of another scuffle ensued and the click of the second line being cut off from the conversation entered the conversation. After a short pause there was the sudden outburst of whining in the background before Haruhi's voice spoke up again. _"Sorry neechan, but I need to go start dinner before obachan gets home from work. I'll call you tonight if you want."_

She shook her head even though he couldn't see it. "No don't worry about it. I have a bit of paperwork to fill out for Hiyama-sensei." She replied while shooting a rather unhappy look towards her tossed book bag. "I'll call you tomorrow when I get home from school, okay?"

Haruhi sighed. _"Okay. Ichigo, take care of yourself. I don't know what I'd do without you."_

Ichigo snorted. "I'm sure you would do just as fine without me. But you're welcome." Her mouth pulled through a grin as she spoke.

Saying their quick good-byes, Ichigo making sure that she said good-bye to her uncle or else she wouldn't hear the last of it. Hanging up, Ichigo set the cordless phone back in its cradle and exhaled a tired sigh while tipping her head backwards to rest against the wall. Her amber colored gaze stared up at the ceiling overhead. She cared a lot about her cousin, would do anything she could for him. _Dear mother in heaven, what am I going to do?_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

_The Blonde King_

* * *

_'Only a few find the way; some don't recognize it when they do; some don't ever want to.'_ – _**The Cheshire Cat, ****American McGee's ALICE**_

* * *

_Dear Mother in heaven, it's been nearly three days now since I began my school year at Ouran Private Academy for Boys, and already I am near the point of wanting to strangle Haruhi over and over again. Fortunately enough, I somehow have passed myself as a boy, I figure I got those androgynous looks from your side of the family, considering the fact that oyaji can dress like a woman and look just like a woman. But somehow, just somehow, I feel as though this is all going to backfire horribly. Freaking karma!_

Ichigo stared off into space as the teacher droned on about something up at the head of the class. Eyes staring off at an upward angle towards the ceiling while he kept his head facing forward towards the chalkboard up front. A mechanical pencil was held balanced on his upper lip as it out and up in a pout, the thin writing tool teetering slowly on its perch. Chin cupped on either side by open hands, Ichigo was only one gesture shy of yawning and getting himself into some serious trouble.

On either side of the orange-haired teen, the gingered twins exchanged curious looks with one another over the top of Ichigo's head before looking at their fellow classmate with the same look. With an eyebrow pulled up in an arch, they watched Ichigo stare off into space with what appeared to be a bored look on his face. Again they exchanged looks with one another and then shrugged as they returned to scribbling doodles across the tops of their notebook paper. Today seemed as though it were going to incredibly _boring_.

Lunch period soon rolled around, the students pilling out of their classrooms as they headed for the cafeteria to eat. Like one massive wave of humanity, they flooded the halls like they did everyday and strolled at their leisure, chatting as they went on their way. Ichigo on the other hand, hung back behind everyone else, hovering within the safety of the classroom doorway. Hiyama-sensei had already left for his own lunch in the teacher's lounge, so if Ichigo wanted, he had the whole classroom to herself for lunch.

It was only the third day at Ouran, and the unease of sitting amongst the others with his homemade o-bento box still left him with a sick feeling at the bottom of his stomach. Ichigo wasn't embarrassed about his lunch, it was just the whole thing about being stared at for the many numerous reasons everyone had to stare. Exhaling a quiet sigh, Ichigo retreated back into the classroom and sat down at his desk to eat.

"Hmm? Kaoru, he's not here again." Hikaru muttered in a lazy sort of manner as he stabbed and poked at his own meal of incredible splendor that one would think to only find in a five-star restaurant.

"Looks like it Hikaru." Kaoru surveyed the cafeteria slowly, making sure he didn't miss the orange-haired Eniwa Ichigo they enjoyed teasing so much. "Ichigo is nowhere to be found."

Hikaru paused just as he was about to pierce the soft center of the beautifully broiled Kobe beef steak that sat on his plate. "Ichigo?" He half-glanced up at his twin brother, a bit a curious brow pulled in response to hearing his brother refer to him by first name with no added honorifics or anything. "Since when did you start calling him on a first name basis?"

Kaoru glanced over at his brother absentmindedly. "Hm?"

Setting his fork down, Hikaru leaned over towards his younger brother, a hand reaching out to gently caress his cheek. "Are you that much more interested in that hedgehog-head than me?" He purred quietly, eyes staring intently into the gaze of his brother.

"Hikaru, don't tease me like that." Kaoru replied while trying to look away from him in the same manner an embarrassed girl would from the boy she liked.

"Would you two cut it out!"

The harsh smack of a hand swiping across the back both Hikaru and Kaoru's heads followed after the rather unamused statement was declared. The twins sulked forward in their seats for a moment, hands holding to the spot on the back of their heads where they had been hit. It was Hikaru who spun about in his seat first, eyes narrowed with an irritated glare directed straight on the taller boy that stood behind them.

"What the hell was that for?!" Hikaru growled, showing his contempt for the guy who had struck him and his brother.

The boy that stood behind the Hitachiin twins held a rather dignified air about him, his overall appearance giving him that rare princely sort of charm. Blonde hair, perfectly groomed with bangs fluttering freely about a beautiful set of violet colored eyes, and a tall lean frame that would have most girls drooling in seconds; yeah, he was definitely the princely type of guy you saw walking about the campus of a wealthy private academy. His face, though holding that sort of well defined line about the jaw, still showed off his young teen age as the last remains of childhood tried to cling along for the ride into adulthood. He was very much a handsome boy.

But at that moment, his face was set with a frown, brow furrowing while his hands were set upon his hips. He stared down at Hikaru, trying to match the intensity of the glare being shot up at him. He was obviously very displeased with their rather flamboyant parade of "_brotherly love_". "You two know better than to be acting this way during school hours!" He retorted in reply to Hikaru's snapped demanded for an explanation.

Hikaru huffed angrily, his chair scratching across the marble tile of the cafeteria as he made ready to spring at the blonde who seemed to think he could boss him and his brother around. However, Hikaru didn't get any further than just pushing his chair back as another boy about the same age as the blonde but sporting dark hair and glasses, appeared at his side.

Adjusting the position in which his glasses were perched upon the bridge of his nose, the dark haired boy cocked his head to the left in a sideways manner, his lips pulling with what looked like a cocky and yet flirtatious grin. "Hikaru-kun, I'd advise it best that you keep your voice down."

Immediately the eldest of the twins stiffened in response to the other boy's presence, nearly choking on the angry words he was ready spew upon the blonde. _Damn that Kyoya._ Hikaru huffed while crossing his arms stiffly across his chest and turned away with nose turned up in the air.

Kaoru watched with mild interest, propping his elbow up on the table and cupping the tip of his chin within the palm of his hand. "Give us a break _dono,_ we're bored since _he_ didn't come to lunch again." He muttered dully while taking note his brother's still pouting mannerism.

Although he was still displeased with the actions of the twins, the blonde did find a bit curious interest in what Kaoru stated as an explanation. Lifting a brow, the blonde tilted his head to the side a bit as he glanced over at Kaoru. "_He_? Who's this _he_?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Hikaru muttered under his breath as he continued to pout.

The blonde's whole demeanor seemed to suddenly change and his expression took on a rather child-like curiosity as his hands from his hips. "Yeah, I would." He replied, taking Hikaru's sarcasm for something else entirely. His apparent lack of discernment didn't seem to be anything new to the dark haired boy standing beside him. The twins however, thought otherwise as they stared at the blonde with a mixed look of disturbed amusement.

"Tamaki, I don't think Hikaru-kun meant it that way." Kyoya, the dark haired and speckled boy, pointed out. Although he retained a bit of his original grin, on the inside he rolled his eyes and smacked the middle of his own forehead at how incredibly naïve the other guy was.

The blonde, or Tamaki as he was called, glanced over at Kyoya with lifted brows and an even more curious look on his face. "Then why say it?"

The twins nearly toppled out of their chairs, while Kyoya's expression merely twitched with disbelief as he tried to maintain a steady look even in the midst of what American's stated as a "_blonde moment_". It didn't take long before Hikaru recovered and was only several inches from being in Tamaki's face, and thus a rather aggressive argument ensued that was immediately broken up by Kyoya and Kaoru who intervened on their respective party's side. A decent half of the student body in the cafeteria had their attention solely on the conflicting First Year and Second Year, a bead of sweat slipping down each of their temples in response.

It was only by the end of the lunch period that the argument was ended, and the two combatants finally separated from one another. Both Kaoru and Kyoya had to set themselves at the middle as they exited the cafeteria in response to bell as it called all back to their classrooms. Kaoru stood with his brother to his left while Kyoya made sure to keep Tamaki to his right. Both boys shot glares at one another even amidst their separation, Tamaki in response to being called an '_idiot_' and Hikaru in response to being called an _'erotic imp'_ during their shouting match/argument.

"Honestly Tamaki, I would think you above anyone else, you would know better than to start arguing with Hikaru-kun like that." Kyoya mused as they walked down the hall.

"Well, he started it!" Tamaki sputtered while pointing over at the ginger-haired boy who seemed quite capable of irking his every last nerve. "Besides, it's hard to tell when either of them are joking around or not, they don't change the tone of their voice...ever!"

Kaoru frowned as he looked over at Tamaki. "That doesn't say much for you still." He pointed out while making both a snide remark and defending himself and Hikaru.

"Enough, please. Let's keep the arguments for after school hours gentlemen." Kyoya interrupted just as Tamaki opened his mouth shoot something half-thought out back at Kaoru. "We have other important matters to discuss at the moment since we weren't able to during our lunch." He gave Tamaki a raised look as the blonde still seemed to insist upon fuming over his inability to get the last word in on the Hitachiin twins.

With arms crossed stubbornly over his chest and cheeks puffed out in a child-like manner, Tamaki appeared to be in no ready manner at the moment to discuss anything. Seeing this, Kyoya merely shook his head and quietly rolled his eyes. Hikaru seemed to have set himself in a similar fashion as well, and it only caused his twin brother to exhale a sigh quietly from his mouth while pinching the middle between his brows. It was in times such as these that Kaoru wondered how Hikaru and Tamaki weren't the ones to be born as twins.

"Fine." Kyoya mumbled while rubbing the back of his neck to ease out a small stress cramp that had crept up on him. "Hikaru-kun, Kaoru-kun; we'll be meeting in the Third Music Room today once class ends." Kyoya shot a rather flat look over at the two boys as he was blaming part of the cramp he was experiencing on them as well as Tamaki.

"The Third Music Room?" Hikaru managed to pull himself out stubborn-mode for a moment as the mention of the music room in the South Building behind the High School department was rather odd. "I thought there wasn't anything available. Or was that hag of a secretary just being bitchy the last time?"

That somehow struck a rather deep nerve in Tamaki, as the blonde was up and out of his little mood and now glared at Hikaru. "Hikaru-kun, how dare you talk so filthy in reference to a lady!" He snapped and came to an immediate halt in his walk, causing the other three boys to stop as well.

"You can't tell me what I can and can't say!" Hikaru shot back, his face contorting to sneer in spite of the older student. Stepping out from the barrier that Kaoru had tried to provide with his own body, Hikaru stomped the short few steps over to where Tamaki stood, paying no regard to the fact that Kyoya was glaring at him the whole time.

"Oi! Hikaru! Kaoru!"

_Saved by the bell...literally._

All eyes turned to the shouts coming up the hall that called for specifically for the attention of the Hitachiin brothers. Jogging towards their direction were two boys from the same 1-A Class, and both looked as though they had been involved in a rather strenuous activity of some sort. Their disheveled hair, dress shirts missing their ties, sweaty brows, lack of full breaths, and no uniform jacket; yeah, they had been doing something, and it had the four boys before them raising brows.

"Yo, Toshiro, Hige." Kaoru greeted the two boys that sat near the front of the 1-A Class. "Why are you all sweaty and out of breath?"

Toshiro, a dark haired boy with brown eyes, was the first one to speak up while grinning broadly. "We were outside on the basketball courts with Eniwa-san."

"Yeah! Eniwa-san is an amazing player!" Hige, the lighter haired of the due sporting olive toned eyes, added in quickly. His enthusiasm was not overlooked, especially by the two older boys who exchanged curious looks with one another.

Hikaru snorted. "You can't mean that hedge-hog head. He sticks to the classroom during school hours."

"We're serious!" Toshiro and Hige countered in unison, the serious tone in their voices all the more pressing to be recognized.

"Who's this Eniwa-san?" Tamaki lifted a brow as he looked to Kyoya. The dark haired boy seemed to continuously know who was new to Ouran, what their background was, and so on and so forth; and thus it provided Tamaki with reasonable fact to ask Kyoya in the first place.

Kyoya shrugged in a rather nonchalant manner. "Eniwa Ichigo is the student attending the same 1-A first-year class with Hikaru-kun and Kaoru-kun. He came into Ouran through a scholarship for his cousin Fujioka Haruhi. Unfortunately, Fujioka-san was unable to attend this first year to solidify his spot here due to an unforeseen family emergency." Kyoya mused while adjusting the way his glasses sat on the bridge of his nose. "Luckily enough for Fujioka-san, there's a loophole, a rather odd loophole if I say so myself, that allowed Eniwa-san to come in and hold his place until next year."

For a moment, Tamaki stared at Kyoya with a rather studious expression on his face as if he were taking his time to fully absorb what had laid out before him. However, it took only two seconds before Tamaki's face pulled into confused grimace that had all the other boys rolling their eyes. "I don't get it." Tamaki whimpered mutely.

"How girls even begin to throw themselves at you, I'll never understand!" Hikaru snapped out from around his brother, his brow twitching as he gave the blonde an unamused look. Kaoru nodded in agreement with this.

"Yeah, it's natural wonder of the world." Hige muttered in a hurried sarcastic manner before looking to the Hitachiin brothers again, his excited look having returned. "So, you guys wanna come check this guy out, or what?"

"Geez! Did you see that?"

"Are you suggesting I'm blind or something? Of course I saw it!"

"I had no idea the new kid had moves like that."

"No kidding. You think the basketball team will scout him now?"

"Depends. I don't see Haru-senpai any where though."

A few of the greater number of boys gathered inside of the impressive arena of basketball court, conversed with one another while watching the one-on-one game going on at the moment. Moving about on one of the six full-sized courts (but only using half that court), Eniwa Ichigo easily slid pass the Third Year that had been the one to initiate the game in the first place. Taking only two steps and then lifting the bright orange ball up with both hands, Ichigo aimed and then pushed the ball forward.

The singing swish of nylon cord rubbing against the tough rubber of the ball had a lot of the boys clapping, whistling, or even giving out encouraging shouts to the "new kid". Although Ichigo took the precaution of utilizing a sports bandage to her chest to stay down and somewhat flat, she happened to even be wearing an undershirt today beneath the white dress shirt that made up the rather polished uniform of Ouran Academy, and thus without the jacket to conceal further evidence, Ichigo was safe to run about.

The tie had long since been discarded as well while the top two buttons of the dress shirt were undone and the hem of the shirt untucked with sleeves rolled up to the elbows, giving Ichigo a further range of movement.

"Not bad." The Third Year remarked while collecting the ball that had been successfully driven through the hoop. "I'm really impressed with you kid."

The Third Year, a brunette with matching eyes named Amano Shinnosuke ('Shin' for short to his friends), gave Ichigo a well-done, good job sort of look as he trotted back towards the middle of the full court. Ichigo smirked a bit while turning to follow Shinnosuke's movements, and taking the compliment as it had been presented.

"You have a natural talent for the game. You should think about trying out for the team." Shinnosuke suggested as he took up his starting position. "I'm sure Haru-san would agree to it." He bounced the ball a few times, brow lifting as he gave Ichigo a questioning look.

Pushing up her sleeved, Ichigo shrugged before taking up her own defensive position. "I'd have to think about it." _Like hell I would try out for the basketball team! Physical would screw me over royally! _

Nodding, Shinnosuke started forward quickly, dribbling the ball with literal easy as he faked to the right and turned off to his left instead to break out around Ichigo and make a run for the basket. Following after him quickly, Ichigo did her best to catch up, but her shorter legs and two second delay in catching on to Shinnosuke's plan of attack cost her the chance to take back the ball.

Again the churning swish of ball dropping through the open hole of the net broke out and had the same reaction of the gathered spectators as when Ichigo had made her basket. Shrugging it off all in good fun, Ichigo went to retrieve the ball now, disappearing from the view of the main gate that allowed access in and out of the enclosed courts.

At that same time, Toshiro and Hige returned with four other boys following along. The Hitachiin brothers were curious to see whether or not their favorite tease was really that good at basketball or not, while Tamaki was genuinely curious to see who this Eniwa Ichigo was, and what he looked like in person. Kyoya on the other hand, seemed a bit disenchanted with it but tagged along anyways since class bored him a bit at the start of the new year. Entering the courts, the group of four rather well-known boys gained a bit of attention for themselves that they seemed rather use to.

"Okay, so where is he? I only see that Shinnosuke-senpai looming over the court." Hikaru stated, his hand hovering just on the line over his eyes to shield his vision from the light of the sun.

"Good question." Toshiro mused, craning his neck in order to get a better scope of the court. "Looks like they're still playing, but Eniwa-san is missing."

Hige nodded as he too was unable to the hard to miss orange head of Ichigo, but instead of standing tip-toe or straining his neck, the brunette decided to trot off down the side of the court and popping out the question of where Ichigo was as he went. A few of the boys standing around pointed off down the far end of the half court.

Tamaki glanced about the basketball court and took note of just how much of a crowd there was even during a period in school hours where in which students should be seated in classrooms learning something from their teachers. There was a rather impressed and amazed look on Tamaki's overall appearance. Normally new kids attracted attention of course, everyone wanting to know who they are and what wealthy family they come from; but this, and all over a _commoner_, was highly unusual. Then again, it wasn't every day that a _commoner_ walked on to Ouran's campus as a student.

_Interesting. I think may have to speak with this Eniwa-san. _Tamaki mused quietly to himself, a smile pulling the left corner of his mouth.

"Oh, there's hedgehog-head!" Hikaru pointed towards the far end of the court as soon as he caught sight off orange hair.

Kaoru squinted a bit while peering off down the sideline in the direction his brother was pointing and then cracked a grin. "Yep, there he is."

It didn't take long and the talked about First Year appeared at the center of the court with basketball in hand. Tamaki blinked a few times in order to make sure he was seeing correctly. Kyoya on the other hand held a rather intrigued look on his face while a hand cupped the tip of his chin with a loose hold. Apparently, this new kid's appearance wasn't quite what either boy had pictured and both Second Years were rather taken back by the overall look they gathered from a distance.

"Hmm, you don't see that hair color to often." Kyoya commented aloud while glancing over at the twins briefly, his grey eyes noting that their hair color was just a few shades forward in the red tone.

"Are you seriously comparing him to us?" Kaoru asked as he caught Kyoya's remark and frowned as he met the older boy's studious gaze.

Kyoya shrugged as he turned his attention back to the court as Shinnosuke and Ichigo began another round. It was Ichigo who moved with the ball after checking against Shinnosuke, her quick steps transferring him out to the left and then twisted her body about to avoid having the ball snatched from her hold. Shinnosuke smirked momentarily at this as he followed, keeping the distance between him and Ichigo at a minimum in order to cut off any attempt to make a dash for the basket. They moved down the court keeping a steady switching rhythm that was rather flawless in the eyes of the boys watching, and even had a few of the basketball team members murmuring excitedly amongst one another.

In one move, Ichigo took a step back and swung out behind Shinnosuke. With ball in both hands Ichigo jumped a good half foot from the ground and lofted the ball in a high arc directly for the basket. Everyone held their breath, even Shinnosuke as he watched the ball sail high overhead, too high for him to even attempt a block. The ball sank through the open mouth of the net and struck the ground quickly in a resounding bounce before the whole court broke into a cheer.

Toshiro shouted praise and whistled as one of his classmates bested a Third Year on the basketball team. Both Hikaru and Kaoru stared with rather shocked looks, wide-eyed and rather speechless before they looked to one another and shrugged to answer the unspoken question passed between them. While Kyoya simply lifted his brows, impressed by the new kid's skill, Tamaki stared with a growing stare that suggested his own surprise, and even awe, at this Eniwa Ichigo.

_I have to speak with him! _Before Kyoya could stop him, Tamaki made his way out on to the court at the same time Shinnosuke and Ichigo shook hands to call their game done, but to be continued some other time in the future. As he approached, Tamaki took a careful and almost detailed once over of the First Year he was rather eager to meet.

Ichigo seemed to stand at a rather appropriate height for his age, maybe somewhere around 5'5"...? Without the uniform jacket, his lean body build was exposed thanks in part to an untucked shirt and rolled up sleeves, and it blended well with the shape of his face. The semi-sharp angle of the face suggested that Ichigo was at that point where childhood is slowly left behind in favor for the much more mature appearance of a growing young man. Even the shape of his amber eyes was rather unique, a bit pointed at the outside corner where the lashes were a bit thicker. There was beneath that outside corner on the right eye, a small beauty mark that gave Ichigo a bit of a unique look that begged to be stared at and studied.

Even that punching shade of orange tousled spiky hair seemed to fit him perfectly. Tamaki started to grin to himself. _He's absolutely perfect! _The last fifteen steps towards the First Year, and already Amano Shinnosuke was walking off to grab his stuff and head for class, leaving Ichigo to turn and do the same. Although in Ichigo's case, returning to class wasn't going to be so easy as she came face to face with probably the prettiest blonde who wasn't even a girl.

Stopping dead in her tracks, ball held before her with both hands, her face was completely blank save for the hint of scant surprise that had appeared in tandem with blonde boy's appearance. Words escaped Ichigo at the moment, not from what some would have thought the reason for, but more out of the fact that he had just appeared out of nowhere like a cat.

"So you're the famous Eniwa Ichigo I've been hearing about today." He mused, right brow quirking a bit to show a sense of interest in the First Year and stood a good foot taller than. "I have to say, I'm rather impressed with the crowd you drew in." He gestured with a nod of his head towards the departing students who were about to hustle to class once outside the court fence.

"I don't think I'm _famous_." Ichigo replied, a lack of any expression on her face at the moment. "But thanks, I guess."

He grinned, and for some reason that grin caused a rather hallow feeling to swallow the inside of her stomach. "My name is Suoh Tamaki from 2-A." He introduced himself in a rather polite and friendly manner, extending a hand out to the _boy_ before him.

Ichigo was hesitant at first as she worried if the grip in which she took his hand would appear too soft or gentle for a boy. Swallowing hard mentally, Ichigo switched the ball off to her left arm and tucked it against her side as she took the offered hand. Surprisingly, it was Tamaki's hand that was rather soft but yet firm at the same time, suggesting he was probably _well-trained_ in Ichigo's opinion. "Nice to meet you Suoh-senpai."

"Ah, ah, please, use my first name. Hearing someone use my last name sits a bit weird with me." Tamaki tutted in a teasing manner that was nothing as malicious or harsh as the twins manner of teasing. In fact, it was rather good-natured and all around friendly.

"Uh, okay. Tamaki-senpai." Ichigo was starting to sweat now, and luckily enough she was still sweaty from the one-on-one game that it was hidden. Not wanting to be impolite to the older student, Ichigo carefully pulled her hand back out of his grip and forced a sheepish grin. "Sorry, my hand's a bit sweaty from the game."

A rather loud scoff sounded from behind Tamaki which brought Ichigo's current posture up into a quickly stiff hold. That scoff was rather unique and it would be incredibly hard not to place with a face and name. _Speak of the devil. Or should I say devil-S. _Ichigo frowned a bit as the identical faces of the Hitachiin brothers popped up on either side of Tamaki.

"Oi, _Dono_, best be careful. I've heard that once the sweat of a _commoner _gets on you, it never comes off." Hikaru snickered at his own snide remark.

"Very true indeed, _Dono_." Kaoru pipped in and nodded as he agreed with Hikaru's little _fun-fact_.

Ichigo's brow furrowed rather quickly in response to being teased so suddenly. _How long have they been here?_ "What's the matter? Got bored in class?" Ichigo shot at them with a rather unamused look on her face. She was starting to loath the nickname of _commoner_ that they had so graciously titled her with as of late.

Hikaru and Kaoru gave rather shocked and surprised looks as if they had never heard Ichigo defend himself before. They exchanged speechless stares with one another and then huffed while placing a hand over their hearts. "Oh, Ichigo-san, how can you be so cruel to us?" They asked in unison, faining hurt in order to further mock and provoke their classmate.

A rather unsettling shadow crawled its way across Ichigo's face as she tipped it down and aimed a scathing glare at the concrete. _Rich-bastards!_

"Now, now; Hikaru-kun, Kaoru-kun. There's no need to rile up Eniwa-san like that." Kyoya finally made his own appearance, coming up behind Hikaru specifically and setting a hand atop his head. He tussled the boy's hair a bit roughly to get a rather direct point across for him to shut-up. "Good afternoon, Eniwa-san. I'm Ohtori Kyoya from 2-A as well. You put on quite the display of skill. I don't think it'll be long before Haru-senpai comes looking for you specifically." He gave Ichigo a rather polite smile, but something about it sent a chill up Ichigo's spine, causing her to look up with a pulled brow.

"Kyoya!" Tamaki gave his dark haired friend a rather startled look while conveying a sense of panic at the same time, his wide amethyst gaze showing that emotion quite well.

While it seemed for the moment that attention had left her, Ichigo looked between the four boys who were suddenly caught up in their own arguments or conversations, _At least that's what it looks like from here_. Ichigo mused before shrugging and walking off to the other side of the court where she had left her jacket and tie.

"I wanted to invite this guy to meet with us after school! If you give him ideas about joining the basketball team then it'll be even harder to recruit him!" Tamaki whined while stomping his foot and stiffening his arms straight down at his sides with hands balled in fists. Even with his handsome looks, he looked very much like a mad little boy who was not getting his way as he expected to.

"What?!" Hikaru sputtered, arms flailing madly in complete and utter protest to the very mention of the idea. "You can't be serious! Hedgehog-head?!"

_Hedgehog-head...?_ Ichigo looked back over her shoulder as she straightened the tie she had slipped back around her neck. _Did he really just call me 'hedgehog-head'?_ Her hand absentmindedly reached for her hair near the right temple. _My hair's not _that_ spiky! _The look on her face went from a bit self-conscious on her looks to a narrow-eyed glare that threatened to incinerate the metal fence before her.

Huffing, Tamaki waved off the near hysterical twins were animate in their protest to his want of recruiting Ichigo, and nearly ran to catch up with the departing First Year. "Wait, Ichigo-kun! I wanted to talk to you about joining our club!" He called out.

Pausing at the gate, Ichigo turned only halfway to face the running Tamaki, a somewhat of an unamused look was on her face. "You me to join what now?"

"A club we're starting." Tamaki replied as he nearly slid to a stop. Face flushed from both his short sprint and from the fact that somehow, that look of Ichigo's... _It's kind of - _ "I wanted to ask you if you'd be interested in joining a school club. Particularly a club that myself, Kyoya, and those demon in human form will be forming with two other students from 3-A."

For a moment, it seemed as though Ichigo was actually contemplating the idea, but then again looks can be deceiving. "No thanks, Your Highness."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

_I Don't Understand The Meaning of "Give Up"_

* * *

"_You know...compared to the others, you're a little weird."_ - **Hatake Kakashi, **_**Naruto**_

* * *

Since meeting him that day on the basketball courts, it had become Suoh Tamakis' personal mission to recruit the rather uninterested Eniwa Ichigo into the club he was starting. Come hell or high water, Tamaki was going to get Ichigo into his club as a participating member. However, since the first attempt to recruit Ichigo, Tamaki had tried at least a dozen time over the passed week now to sway him into joining, and each and every time he tried Ichigo shot him down. Much to the chagrin of Ichigo, Tamaki appeared to be one of those few people who possessed the inability to grasp the concept of _"give up"_.

While the twins held a sense of mild discontent towards Ichigo for the mere fact that he was a _"commoner"_, they were slowly starting to take a liking to the orange-haired boy with each denial to Tamaki's proposals. They enjoyed watching Tamaki hanging in the wind, the spaced out and or startled looks on his face were nearly priceless and Hikaru made sure that none of them were wasted. And thusly, he had a collection of pictures he snapped with his cellphone that had built up to nearly ten by Friday. Even Kyoya was now keeping a score of how many times Tamaki approached Ichigo, and how many times Ichigo turned him down.

It had literally become a routine of sorts, and it was starting to annoy Ichigo. A lot.

Hikaru snickered as he glanced down at the watch he had strapped to his wrist. It was just five after noon, lunch period had already commenced and the classroom was empty save for the twin brothers and Ichigo. Ever since Tamaki began his campaign to get Ichigo for the club, the twins had started staying behind with Ichigo during lunch since he didn't go to the cafeteria with everyone else anyways. Because of this, they were introduced to what an o-bento box was, and while they eyed it skeptically, they even tried some of the food that Ichigo brought for lunch (or rather they more or less sampled it without exactly asking Ichigo's consent).

"Oi, Ichigo-san, it's almost time for your stalker to show up." Hikaru grinned while looking towards the boy that had been permanently seated between him and his brother for the rest of the school year. The look on Ichigo's face was all he needed to start laughing.

Even Kaoru was grinning. "What are you planning to do today, Ichigo-san?"

"You guys are enjoying this way too much." Ichigo grumbled while sitting rather stiff in the chair, arms crossed over the chest as an irritated scowl twitched across his face.

As if on cue, the door to the classroom opened inward as Tamaki made his usual grand entrance, Kyoya appearing with him to merely watch in slight amusement. He held his arms in a manner that suggested he was ready to recite something off Shakespeare. "Good afternoon my dear friends

"He's really starting to bug the hell out of me." Ichigo muttered under his breath while staring at the blonde who was now currently waltzing up to the side of his desk at the back of the room. On either side of him, the strangled laughter of the twins was sounding as though it were ready to explode.

Sitting down on the front lip of Ichigo's desk, Tamaki cross his right leg over his left while folding his hands in his lap and turned on what was dubbed by the twins as "_his prince charming mode"_. He smiled down at Ichigo, head tilting to the side a bit as if flirting with the orange-haired boy who gave him a rather flat glare in response.

"Oh, this gonna be good." Hikaru grinned while propping his elbows up on the top of his desk, chin coming to rest within the perch he had made with his hands.

"Ichigo-kun, how are you today?" Tamaki lifted a brow as he spoke to the younger student, looking to open up his proposal with the usual greeting.

"No." Ichigo shot out the rather blatant refusal to even hear what he had to say this time. The rather sudden response caught Tamaki off-guard, causing him to slip and fall from his place on the desk. Unfortunately for Ichigo, he shot back up as fast as he had fallen.

"But, but, Ichigo-kun, you didn't even hear what I had to say this time!" Tamaki whimpered, his amethyst gaze starting to glass over as he was more than ready to pull the puppy-dog pout in need be. "How can you say _no_ like that?"

Ichigo's brow twitched as the annoyance level was starting to rise now. "It's pretty simple, I take the syllables and put them together to form the word." He retorted, knowing full well that Tamaki meant something else with his question, but befuddling the Second Year often at times proved to be enough to drive him away sometimes. Sadly, this wouldn't be the case this time.

"Ichigo-kun!" Tamaki's voice held a child-like whine to it as he was starting to beg now. "Please join our club!"

"You keep asking me that, I keep telling you _no_! Why doesn't that seem to get through to you?!" Ichigo snapped finally. "Besides that, you haven't even told me word one about what this club is like and what it does!"

Kyoya held the back of his hand over his mouth to hide the grin that was beginning to tug at the corners of his mouth while the twins were having a difficult time keeping themselves from rolling about with their own laughter.

Tamaki stared at Ichigo with a rather startled look on his face as he tried to rake through his memory. Hadn't he told Ichigo what their club was? He was almost certain he had, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to feel confident about that assumption. "I, uh, didn't I tell you already?" His own personal confusion didn't exactly help his case at that moment.

The strained look of annoyance started to bring a grin like grimace across Ichigo's face as he bowed his head for a moment. _No, stay calm. Do not blow up at this guy no matter what! He's been nothing but nice to you since he literally threw himself at you on the court. Just get up and excuse yourself. Breathe._ Swallowing down whatever angry retort that he had been ready to let loose with on Tamaki, Ichigo pushed his chair back and stood up making sure to keep his gaze down. "Just...I need some air, excuse me." With that said, Ichigo restrained himself from bolting for the door and nearly stalked out of the classroom.

The four boys stared after the departed teen and remained silent for a moment until Hikaru finally choked and burst into a rather heavy fit of laughter that pushed him out of his chair. The oldest of the twins held an arm over his abdomen as tears started to form at the corners of his hazel eyes from laughing so hard. Kaoru was slumped forward over his desk, hand covered over his eyes as he was laughing just as hard as his brother.

Tamaki looked between the two brothers and for a moment felt as though he didn't understand what was so funny until he heard an escaped chuckle come from Kyoya's direction as even the normally reserved and placid boy was trying desperately hard not to laugh. "What's so funny?!" Tamaki huffed while crossing his arms over his chest.

"Ichigo...Ichigo-san...he looked like he was ready to slap you!" Hikaru choked and wheezed through his laughter and then exploded into another full round after the end of his sentence.

"He did, didn't he?" Kaoru laughed while feeling a whole new wave over take him after seeing his brother down on the ground near rolling from side to side.

Kyoya attempted to cut his own would have been laughter off by clearing his throat. "Tamaki, I admire your persistence, you're an inspiration to us all." He lifted his gaze towards his blonde friend and tried to force the grin off his face. "But I think you need to realize that Ichigo-kun isn't going to join no matter how hard you try to recruit him. Let the kid be."

"Kyoya! How can you say that?!" Tamaki's jaw dropped as he stared at his friend. "Ichigo-kun is absolutely perfect for this club! You say him that day, he attracted a huge crowd, and those were just other boys! Think what would happen if there were girls!" He began gesturing madly as he tried to make a valid point to his want of Ichigo's membership to the club.

The speckled boy shrugged. "I'm just saying. Even though he does seem to have the qualities we've been looking for in an additional member, if he doesn't want to participate at the moment, then just back off." Kyoya pointed out the rather obvious approach he would have taken, but sighed mentally as he knew that was _beyond_ anything Tamaki would have seen. "Besides, you don't to form any sort of tension between you and Ichigo-kun at the moment. After all, who says he wouldn't eventually become interested later on down the line?"

This sparked a new sort of hope that glittered about Tamaki's gaze as he struck a rather thoughtful pose. "I suppose you have a point there my friend."

"Yeah right." Hikaru's laughter had finally ceased as he sat up and shot Tamaki an unamused look. "If Ichigo-san is the kind of guy I think he is, then he sure as hell isn't going to be joining your club. The guy has more dignity than that."

"So what does that say about yourself then?" Kyoya mused while glancing down at the Hitachiin in boy with a growing smirk tugging at his mouth. He could have sworn he say Hikaru's eye twitch in response as he shot him a glare.

Ichigo gave a long exhale as he made his way outside the High School department building. The fresh air was nice, a cool breeze was wafting in across the campus and was scented with the perfume from blooming flowers that gave the otherwise plain looking landscape a pop of color. Running a hand through his hair, Ichigo shoved his other hand into the pocket of his black slacks.

_His_...? _Her_...? Which one was supposed to be used? At school, Ichigo was Ichigo as a _boy_. Outside of school, Ichigo was, well, Ichigo. It had only been around a week and a half since the start of the school year, and already Ichigo could feel the pressure of maintaining appearances rather difficult. It was hard to think of oneself as a boy for nearly eight hours a day and then forget all of that for the rest of the day afterwards. And now, to make matters even more complicated, there was some Second Year chasing Ichigo around in the never-ending quest to get _him_ to join a club.

_He wants "Ichigo" to join their club, not me._ Ichigo glanced up at the pale blue sky overhead. A few clouds drifted by in a lazy manner, thin wisps that reminded the fifteen-year-old of the long hair she once possessed before chopping it off three days prior to the first day of school. _Crap. I think I just made myself feel sad._ Ichigo's face pulled into a rather sour look in response to her own thoughts.

"Ah! Ichigo-kun!"

The call caught Ichigo's attention as the voice itself was a bit familiar. In fact, it belonged to the same Third Year that had played Ichigo a round of basketball, Amano Shinnosuke. Ichigo lifted a brow and then grinned while lifting a hand up to wave at the approaching boy. "Yo, Amano-senpai!" Ichigo called out in friendly greeting.

"What are you doing outside during lunch? Not hungry?" Shinnosuke asked as he approached the First Year, a bit of a curious look on his face as he found it a bit odd for Ichigo to be out.

Ichigo shrugged. "Something like that." He replied while pocketing both hands. "And what's up with you Amano-senpai?" The question was now turned around on to the older boy who stood in a bit of a slanted posture with his own hands tucked away into the pockets of his slacks.

"Actually I was going to go meet up with Haru-san and a few of the other guys from the basketball team." Shinnosuke replied while his face alighted with a thoughtful look. "Hey, you wanna come along and meet them? I told Haru-san all about you after our little game and he's been wanting to meet you."

_Well, I guess it would give me a chance to keep away from Tamaki-senpai a while longer since he's probably still in the classroom._ Ichigo's mouth quirked with a brief smirk as he inclined his head a bit. "Eh, what the hell. Sure, I'll go with you."

Shinnosuke chuckled a bit as he gestured with a bit of a twisting nod of his head for Ichigo to follow him. The two walked for about five minutes, chatting along the way, until they veered off the path they had been walking and headed down towards the basketball court they had played at earlier in the week. As they neared the gated courts, Ichigo looked ahead and noticed that there were several other older boys sitting against the chain-link fencing. They all looked to be somewhere in their Third Year at Ouran from first glance, but Ichigo waited to meet them before fully making his final judgment.

"Oi, Shin! What took you so long?" One of the boys called out while grinning. His dark brown hair was a bit ruffled from possibly having ran his hands through it, and his matching eyes seemed to grin as well. He was definitely a looker, like a lot of the other boys attending the academy, but seemed to have that rather athletic quality to his overall appearance that had Ichigo turning a bit red. As his friend approached, his gaze drifted off to the younger student following after him, and for a moment a curious furrow formed across his brow.

A sheepish chuckle escaped Shinnosuke as her rubbed at the back of his head. "Yeah sorry about that, I ran into a new acquaintance of mine I've been telling you about." He grinned while patting Ichigo on the top of his orange-tinted head. "Ichigo-kun, this Fujisaki Haru, captain of the basketball team." He looked down at the shorter boy with sideways glance and nodded at the guy who had spoken up first.

Ichigo lifted a hand and meekly waved at him. "Nice to meet you Senpai."

"Ah, no way! This that new kid we've been hearing about?" Another boy with dark red hair shot up to his feet and was standing before Ichigo with a starstruck look on his face as he set his hands on the boy's shoulders. "You're Eniwa-san? Wow, I've been hearing about how you beat Shin-chan! You must be incredibly talented if you did that!" His excitement was pretty evident as he hurriedly set forth his compliments to the younger student.

Haru laughed along with a few of the other guys in response to the rather taken back look that Ichigo had on his face at the moment. "Ryu, give the kid some room to breathe." He chuckled while standing up to his feet as well. Taking the few steps that separated him from his friends and Ichigo, Haru grabbed the boy named Ryu by the back of his shirt collar and yanked him back a bit. "You'll have to forgive him, Eniwa-kun."

Ichigo chuckled nervously as he tried not to appear uneasy with the attention being showered upon him so suddenly. "I-It's fine."

"Eniwa-kun, it's nice to finally meet you. I've been hearing rumors about a new kid to Ouran with orange hair, but when I heard you actually beat Shin here, I've been wanting to meet you now for a while." Haru explained while letting go of his friend's collar.

"I'm nothing that great. Honest." Ichigo half-grinned while feeling a bit moved by the fact that there were people in this school who were genuinely nice to the "new kid". That, and _girl-Ichigo_ was feeling a bit giddy at the fact that if she wasn't presenting herself as a boy, more than likely the 6'1" basketball captain would probably be flirting this her.

From out of what seemed like nowhere, the redhead named Ryu popped up from behind Ichigo and set his hands on his shoulders again while grinning like a fox. "Look at you, the little superstar is so modest!" He teased, as the others could have sworn they saw a bushy tail wagging back and forth behind Ryu.

Haru gave a rather harsh exhale as he pinched the space between his brows and closed his eyes for a moment. "Eniwa-kun, this is Aizawa Ryuichi. We call him Ryu for short. He's our point guard on the team." Haru introduced the still rather excited redhead to the somewhat sweating Ichigo who looked a tad uncomfortable with his presence right behind him.

Ichigo glanced over to Shinnosuke who was looking a bit embarrassed by Ryus' rather blatant affection for the younger student. "Amano-senpai, what position do you play?" He was curious now, although he had somewhat of a theory in mind already.

"Oh, me? I'm the power forward." Shinnosuke replied while looking a bit more on the proud side of things as he seemed to enjoy giving that little detail out to anyone who asked. Not that he was conceited or cocky, Shinnosuke just enjoyed being asked.

"Our starting power forward actually." Haru added in as he gave his friend a grin. "In fact, a few of these guys here are the team starters." He hooked a thumb over his shoulder at the other five boys who were now standing on their feet as well. "Eniwa-kun, I'd like you to meet – Kishimoto Masashi our starter shooting guard, Tsugumi Ohba our starter small forward, Watsuki Nobuhiro our second string point guard, Obata Takeshi our second string power forward, and Oda Eiichiro second string center."

Haru introduced the boys from left to right, and each one of them had that handsome athletic look that more than likely would have had _girl-Ichigo's _knees buckling had it not been for the fact that the boy persona was pulling a dominate string at the moment. Ichigo nodded at them with a friendly look holding to his overall expression.

"Shin has been telling us about the game we missed. Sounds like you got some natural talent, Eniwa-kun." Shiniji mused while lifting a brow at the orange-haired boy. "You thinking about trying out this year?"

Ichigo opened his mouth to reply, however, that sort of thing was immediately interrupted by a sudden shout that barged into the conversation and sent a chill thrumming up Ichigo's spine.

"Ah!" Out of nowhere Tamaki's arms wrapped about the shoulders of the First Year from behind and jerked him backwards quickly into a defensive hold that dared the other boys to try anything. Almost glaring at them, Tamaki tightened his hold on Ichigo as if he were utterly possessive over the boy. "I don't think so. Ichigo-kun is going to be apart of the club that I'm starting up, not the basketball team!"

The boys from the basketball team stared dumbly at the blonde who was currently shouting at them. Exchanging glances with one another they could only shrug as they had no idea what caused such a sudden reaction from him, or even pinpoint when it was exactly that he had shown up without them noticing.

Haru lifted a brow as he took note of the highly perturbed look that scrawled its way across Ichigo's face that looked to be burning red from either complete and utter embarrassment or annoyance. Either way, Ichigo looked, well, pissed off. "Right." Haru regarded the blonde Second Year with a rather cool look as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, I think it's up to Eniwa-kun as to what he wants to do." He pointed out while sending Tamaki a rather even glare now.

Ichigo's brow was twitching a bit by now, his patience for Tamaki now pushed to the breaking point now as he held him like some toy he didn't want to share. _Somehow I feel like I should be flattered by all this attention, but right now, I am really pissed off._ His right hand curled into a fist at his side, tightening as he bit his lip to keep quiet and not let fly a slew of curses and shouts that would probably send the devil running in piss terror from. Instead of allowing the normally quick to snap temper of his to take action, Ichigo inhaled a deep breath and then exhaled slowly before plucking Tamaki's off from about his shoulders and then gently pushed the blonde backwards a bit, putting space between them.

"Fujisaki-senpai is right." Ichigo murmured quietly before looking back over his shoulder at Tamaki. "It's my choice as to what club I do or don't join." That amber gaze seemed to nearly stab into Tamaki with an even glare that commanded him to stay quiet. Looking back to the boys from the basketball team, Ichigo offered them a brief smile before bowing his head. "It was nice to meet all of you, but I think I need to be heading back to class now before I'm late."

Shinnosuke and Haru nodded at this, both exchanging looks with one another from the corner of their eye. Haru looked to Ichigo with a friendly grin. "It was nice meeting you as well Eniwa-kun. Please feel free to stop by the gym anytime, we practice there after school everyday if you wanna join us."

Again, Ichigo thanked them politely while also conveying his genuine interest in the offer and then finally turned to walk off towards the high school department; but not without grabbing the right lapel of Tamaki's jacket to force him to follow instead getting into any further arguments with the basketball team. While the sudden pull at his jacket caught him off guard, Tamaki stumbled sideways and caught himself quickly to follow after the First Year and keep from possibly being dragged along by the First Year.

"Ah, Ichigo-kun not so fast!" Tamaki cried out as the fast steps of the orange-haired boy were making it difficult to follow after him, especially since the hold Ichigo had on his jacket lapel forced him to stoop a bit in his stance.

As soon as they were back up on the paved sidewalks that followed around the campus buildings and connected various paths to one another, Ichigo let go of Tamaki's jacket and continued on towards the high school building, hands now shoved into the pockets of his slacks. There was still a great deal of annoyance towards Tamaki's actions with then basketball team, but mainly towards his continuing want of Ichigo to join the club that he was starting with the twins and Kyoya.

Adjusting the front of his jacket while keeping pace with Ichigo, Tamaki remained quiet a moment as he carefully thought out what he was going to say to Ichigo. He both sense and see the annoyance that ate away at the First Year now, and honestly enough Tamaki couldn't blame him. However, he was absolutely dead set on getting Ichigo to join. "Ichigo-kun, about our conversation earlier in the classroom – " Cut off immediately by Ichigo who had stopped dead in his tracks, Tamaki hung back a few steps behind the younger boy with a raised look on his face.

Looking back over his shoulder, brows bunched at the middle and pursed lips, Ichigo stared at Tamaki for a moment. "You're not going to stop, are you?"

Tamaki's face brightened into a sparkling smile as he clasped his hands before him. "Ichigo-kun, are you accepting my invitation to join my club?"

"No." Ichigo's flat response caused Tamaki to nearly falter in his stance. "I'm not accepting anything, I just want to know."

Sliding up alongside the younger student, Tamaki set an arm around his shoulder, a rather dignified look on his face as he held his free hand up in a rather instructor-like manner. "Ichigo-kun, you would be an amazing addition to the club, and thusly, I shall never give up on you!"

At this Ichigo made a face as he was both slightly impressed by the blonde's absolute determination, but also put off by the fact that he was so dead set on making him a member of a club Ichigo knew nothing about. "And I thought door to door salesmen were pushy." He grumbled under his breath while feeling just a bit embarrassed by the fact that Tamaki was holding so friendly like. _Dammit._


	7. Chapter 7

**Author Note: **In the last chapter, the boys from the basketball team that were introduced to Ichigo were each (aside from Shinnosuke and Haru) named after several of my favorite manga authors. It was my way of paying homage to those who inspired me to write. Points to anyone who can match each artist name to their correct manga!

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**Chapter Seven**

_And It Starts All Over Again_

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"_I just know, before this is over, I'm gonna need a whole lot of serious therapy. Look at my eye twitchin'." _- **Donkey, **_**Shrek**_

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The weekend had come and gone far too quickly for Ichigo as Monday appeared with a wonderfully rosy sunrise that seemed to mock the First Year as she had to literally drag herself out of bed at six am in order to properly prepare her body for the tortures of the day it was about to be placed under. The wrapping of the chest that needed to be done in order to conceal her very much apparent female identity took a good forty-five minutes, that in which after, Ichigo raced about her bedroom to collect the rest of her school things as though the end of the world was right at her heels. Irony at its finest as some would say.

The flurry of orange hair and panic barreled its way into the kitchen, school bag slapping down atop the first piece of empty counter space at hand as the refrigerator was yanked open with a loud pop. Containers were quickly shoved about as Ichigo searched out an easy breakfast meal she didn't need to heat and could scarf down on her way out the door. The clatter of frenzied sound caught the bemused curiosity of Eniwa Aoi; his knitted brow stare appearing at a rather odd leaned back angle through open doorway that connected the small kitchen to the equally small living room in the tiny apartment he shared with his daughter... who happened to be ripping their refrigerator apart at that very moment.

"Oi, Ichigo, you doing alright in there?" Aoi was rather puzzled as to the reason behind his daughter's frantic attempt at throwing together a breakfast consisting of last nights leftovers.

Not even pulling out of the fridge as she stuffed her mouth with fried rice, pickled radish chips, fried pork, one remaining onigiri; Ichigo mumbled out a reply that her father managed to somehow understand as he merely shrugged back and returned to whatever it was he had been preoccupied with in the living room. A strangled choke brought his head poking back in one more time to watch as Ichigo downed the last of the milk in order to wash down whatever mass of edible material she had shoved down her throat.

"You know, there is such a thing called chewing. It totally helps with the whole... not choking on your food and dying in the kitchen thing." A flat look stretched his face with right brow pulled up in slight hint of annoyance for his daughter's behavior. The last thing he wanted to be doing that morning was dialing for an ambulance as his only child turned blue in the face from a lodged bit of pickled radish or fried pork Ichigo never even once attempted to chew.

The milk carton slammed down on the counter and Ichigo exhaled a heavy gasp as the lack of oxygen finally caught up with her. A few deep breaths and Ichigo was scooping up her school bag from its place on the counter and hurtling for the front door. "Byeloveyoudadseeyoutonight!!" She rattled out her good-bye faster than what was thought humanly possible.

"Eniwa Ichigo!"

Something about how Aoi called his daughter by her full-name froze the orange-haired teenager in place... literally in the middle of her flurried motions so that she appeared much like that of a paused video frame.

"I suggest that you turn yourself around miss." Aoi called out from his place in the living room where the TV murmured quietly in the background.

Like the obedient daughter she was, Ichigo turned immediately and appeared within the open doorway of the living room with a dower look on her face as she could already hear the five second lecture that was about to begin. Taking a sip from his morning tea in a very graceful and languid motion, Aoi paused a moment before putting his cup down as if to savor the tangy zest of the tea itself before casting a sideways glance back over his shoulder. There was a faint smirk playing upon the corner of his mouth as he noted the look on Ichigo's face.

"Now, without destroying language in and of itself, please repeat what you said." Aoi sipped from his tea.

Exhaling, Ichigo slipped a hand beneath the collar of her uniform and rubbed at the nape of her neck. "I... I'll see you later after school." She murmured while glancing up and over to where her dad was sitting in the living room.

Glancing back over his shoulder, head tilting back a bit to get a better view of her, Aoi grinned while lifting a brow. "See, that's what I thought you had said, but I just had to clarify." Returning his head posture to its normal position, Aoi slipped a hand into the pocket of his sweater jacket and then waved a small piece of white paper above his shoulder. "If you could, there are a few things we need for the house from the store."

"Are you working late tonight?" Ichigo lifted a brow while stepping further into the living room to take the list being waved at her.

Aoi shook his head. "No. But I do want to cook dinner tonight; give you a break for a change." He reached up and ruffled her hair playfully, this gesture being easily accomplished by the fact that she had stooped just enough for her five foot six inch frame to be at a decent level. "I was thinking a kimchi dish, since that's one of your favorites."

Ichigo's eyes lit up immediately as a tingle ran up her spine in response to the promise of her favorite Korean dish coming to her at dinner. Folding the list into a small square, Ichigo tucked it away into the front breast pocket of her school uniform jacket. "Which supermarket is having a sale today?"

"Our usual haunting ground of course." Aoi chirped while setting his tea down upon the table before him. In a rather casual manner, he propped his elbow up atop the table top and cupped his clean-shaved chin within the palm of his hand as a rather cheeky grin lifted the corners of his mouth. "By the way, aren't you running late for school?"

All color drained from Ichigo's face for a brief two seconds before her presence became a mere afterimage that vanished shortly after and had Aoi chuckling to himself as he returned to his tea.

"Kurosaki Hyate?"

"Here!"

The teacher of the 1-A Class had begun roll call that morning as soon as the bell rang, and fortunately enough for a rather late scholarship riding student, he started at the end of the name roster and was working his way up. At the back of the class, Hitachiin Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged rather bored looks with one another before shooting a unified glare at the empty seat positioned between them. Hikaru tapped his index finger against the top of his desk meticulously while frowning in a disproving manner, eyebrows furrowing towards the middle of his brow.

"Ichigo-san isn't here yet." Hikaru muttered while exhaling an exasperated sigh.

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be along shortly." Kaoru flicked at a piece of his ginger-hair that hung down between his eyes. His nonchalant tone had his brother giving him a raised look, and he even appeared to be on the verge of voicing the question hanging on the tip of his tongue, however Kaoru cut him off by simply pointing towards the classroom door that was still closed.

"Hitachiin Kaoru?"

"Here, sensei." Kaoru waved his hand lazily while the other hand propped his chin up.

"Hitachiin Hikaru?"

"Uh, yeah, here." Hikaru waved his teacher off while keeping his gaze attached to the classroom door that his brother signaled him to watch.

Continuing on through his roll call, Hiyama-sensei caught a strange chill up his spine that caused him to pause mid-name call as he glanced up from his clipboard and off towards the classroom door where logically the chill would possibly come from with it opening and closing quickly. However, the door remained closed and none of his students seemed to have noticed the chill as well as most were either doodling in their notebooks or going over notes from the last lecture he had given them. Shrugging, he returned to his roll call, all while unaware of the sudden appearance of a certain orange-haired student at the back of the class who was receiving a rather startled and shell-shocked look from one of two brothers he sat between.

Hikaru sat sideways in his chair, eyes wide and mouth a gap with arms braced down on the top of his desk and the top of his chair while his brother merely glanced sideways with a rather amused look on his face. Sitting at attention, hands folded neatly on the top of his desk and hair looking slightly mussed, Eniwa Ichigo stared straight ahead at the teacher who now reached his name on the roll call.

"Eniwa Ichigo?"

"Here." There was something slightly off in Ichigo's voice that Kaoru picked up on; but Ichigo held a placid reserve that refused to betray the orange-haired boy anymore than that one crack in tone.

While Hiyama-sensei continued on, Hikaru managed to finally regain something of a sense of composure and pointed at Ichigo accusingly with a suspicious glare. "How the hell did you do that?!" He hissed, all warning signals having been raised concerning the sudden and very mysterious appearance of the _'hedgehog head' _he and his brother had been sitting on either side of for about a week now since the start of the new school year and first semester.

Ichigo continued to stare forward at attention to the teacher as he started in on the day's first of many lessons he had planned out. "Do what?" Amber eyes stayed focused upon the teacher while the re-quote of the question imposed by the still rather startled Hitachiin boy.

"That thing you just did! The whole sneaking into class without anyone noticing thing; that's what!!" Hikaru hissed in an irritated manner while leaning forward out the side of his seat to bring his squinted glare near enough to Ichigo's face as he sought evidence to prove that orange-haired commoner had scrambled like mad hell to pull off the near ninja like entry. "I want to know how you did it." He muttered accusingly.

From his place on the other side of Ichigo, Kaoru chuckled into the palm of his hand before pausing a moment as he caught something from the corner of his eye. Slipping out from beneath the hairline riding across Ichigo's temple, a bead of sweat had finally collected enough weight to slid down the boy's skin. Eying it for a moment, Kaoru grinned to himself in a rather devious manner before sidling in closer to his classmate. A sense of being cornered was starting to hover over Ichigo like a suffocating cloud of doom, and the boy refrained from swallowing down the butterflies that threatened to escape from his stomach.

"If I promise to tell you later at lunch, will you please remove yourselves from my personal space for the remainder of class?!" Ichigo whispered through gritted teeth and did everything possible to keep from shoving both brothers away at that very moment. It seemed to please both of them as they slowly removed themselves from said "personal space" and sat back in their seats with rather pleased looks on their faces. _Dear mother in heaven... I'm so screwed. _The would have been appropriate head slam to the top of the desk would followed immediately after, but appearances are everything at Ouran... even for a commoner holding the scholarship meant for their cousin.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

_And They Are..._

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"_Fear: (Noun) A state of terror! AAH!"_ - **Daffy Duck, **_**Looney Tunes: Back in Action**_

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"For the last time; **no I am not a ninja!**" Ichigo exhaled an exasperated sigh while dragging a hand through the front of his hair. "How many times do I have to repeat that before you believe me?!" A rather tired and unamused amber-eyed stare turned up to glance at the returned stare of the twin brothers who of course had made it their business since the lunch bell to place a Hitachiin Inquisition upon Ichigo.

A scowl had worked itself across Hikaru's face as he stood in front of Ichigo's desk, arms crossed over his chest as he stared down his nose at him. "If you're _'not' _a ninja;" It was here that Hikaru uncrossed his arms and formed quotation marks in the air before jumping right back into his accusations, "Then what the hell are you, and how the hell did you get into the classroom without being seen?!" Hikaru made it a point to jab a finger at the orange-haired boy, his annoyance to the fact that he was not receiving an answer of any kind began to gnaw away at whatever little patience he had in the first place.

From his place off to the side, and perched upon the lip of his own desk, Kaoru lifted a brow as he watched his brother nearly throw a temper-tantrum as Ichigo refused to give into Hikaru's ninja-theory. A faint trace of amusement flickered across his expression as Ichigo matched the glare Hikaru was dishing out. Neither side was obviously going to be backing down any time soon from their side of the argument, and while it was all the more entertaining to watch his brother quite possibly meet his match in the category of stubborn personality, Kaoru's stomach rumbled quietly but loudly enough to clarify his own need to at least eat something before class resumed. Exhaling through his nose in a soft sigh, Kaoru shook his head while slipping down off the desk to stand on his own two feet.

"Oi, Hikaru, I'm hungry." Kaoru set a hand over his stomach for show as he spoke. "Let's go get lunch before the bell rings."

As if timed perfectly, Hikaru's own stomach let out a small growl as the boy opened his mouth to retort back to his brother's suggestion. An odd air of silence suddenly passed between the three First-Years; both Ichigo and Kaoru holding somewhat dumbfounded expressions before exchanging looks with one another from the corner of their eyes. It took only three seconds for Ichigo and Kaoru to suddenly burst into a fit of laughter that only served to fuel Hikaru's originally annoyed state.

"What the hell's so damn funny?!" Hikaru hissed through gritted teeth as he watched his brother laugh hysterically with _"hedgehog head"._

"Y-You're face!!" Kaoru choked out while clutching at his sides with tears in his eyes.

"It was priceless!!" Ichigo added in through his own laughter, while slapping a hand atop the desk while his other arm attempted to hold his sides as they were beginning to hurt now from laughing so hard.

Hikaru growled lowly as he turned on his heel and stomped of towards the classroom door. Throwing the door open, he glanced over his shoulder, eyes narrowed on his brother who was beginning to gain control over himself and straighten up a bit more in his posture. "Let's go Kaoru, before _hedgehog head _rubs off on you even more and turns you into a commoner as well!"

At this, Ichigo's laughter end abruptly, amber eyes turning into angry triangles that attempted to set Hikaru ablaze with their glare. "What was that?!" Ichigo hissed, fangs bared and hackles bristled.

A quick tap to the end of Ichigo's nose pulled back the sudden rush of irritation and anger towards the older twin, and at the same time it earned Kaoru a rather surprised and puzzled look. Shaking his head the younger twin merely offered his classmate a teasing smile. "Don't pay attention to him Ichigo-san, he's just grumpy from being hungry." Kaoru turned away to follow after his brother, who was currently fuming at the door and looking as though he were about to erupt into a flaming aura. "Besides, there's no way any part of your commoner traits would rub off on me anyways, _hedgehog head_." He called back over his shoulder before walking out the door with his brother to leave Ichigo in a state of irritated confusion.

"Bastards." Ichigo muttered under his breath while crossing his arms and slouching low in his seat. _The nerve of them saying such things! Just because I'm not rolling up to school in next year's car model and not eating in the cafeteria doesn't mean they're better than me!! ...well maybe in a social ladder kind of status, but still!! _

Aggravated thoughts turned into incoherent mutterings as as Ichigo sat up and retrieved his lunch from the school bag hanging from its side hook along the desk. With irritation clouding his train of thought, Ichigo slid open his o-bento box and extracted the chopsticks he had shoved inside that morning before dashing off for school like a bat out of hell. Fuming, Ichigo paid little attention to how he handled his eating ware until till it was too late; as was announced by the ominous crack of wood splitting awkwardly.

Ichigo froze immediately, eyes slowly turning down in a near too terrified manner to see what had exactly happened. Instead of the standard break into two long pieces, the chopsticks had been busted into two thick stubby bits that were going to serve no purpose to the hungry student. Utter aggravation flared across Ichigo's face before those stubby pieces of wood were slammed down on the top of the desk in a haughty manner.

"Dammit." Ichigo muttered under his breath while leaning back in his chair in an attempt to recline somehow, head dropping backwards to stare at the back wall of the classroom. _Those two do it on purpose. _His eyes narrow slightly at the wall in response to the thought before an exhale escaped through nose as the amber-eyed gaze turned to stare out the wall of floor to ceiling windows off to the left.

There were a few clouds drifting lazily across the pale blue sky and even several birds fluttered passed as if cued to do so. The look on Ichigo's face dropped from annoyed to somewhat melancholy for a moment as he stared out the windowed wall. _I wish I were at my real school with my friends right now. Hisana would have dragged be out to watch the clouds on the roof right about now while we ate lunch; Hiro would be complaining about how stupid of an idea it was even though he'd follow anyways; Ito would have smacked Hiro upside the head for some rude comment at some point during our lunch; and Minato would just be Minato, smiling away at all of us like always. _Another sigh escaped the orange-haired boy as he closed his eyes to the world for a moment and contemplated a bit on just what he gotten himself into here at Ouran Private Academy.

Royally screwed came to mind every time, and every time Ichigo's face pulled into a rather stretched and sour expression. Huffing under his breath as huger was now starting to chip away at whatever annoyed resolve he had at the moment and he sat up to stare forlornly at his o-bento box.

"... crap."

Now here in part was the real challenge – would forgoing manners during an in-classroom lunch be justifiable by the fact that if Ichigo ventured out in the maze of hallways from hell, he would become horribly lost for possibly days on end before anyone found him? Was being lost for that long, even possible?

_Why risk the chance? _Ichigo nodded to himself as he did in fact justify the absence of manners. Grinning happily with his reasoning, Ichigo prepared to pluck one of the pickled radish chips up from his o-bento box when a small tapping noise suddenly picked up through the classroom. Ichigo paused in mid-reach for his food, eyebrows lifting in curious gesture as the tapping sound stopped. Casting a quick glance about the room to make sure he was in fact alone, he shrugged to himself and picked up a pickled radish chip. As if on cue, the tapping sound started again.

"What the hell?!" Ichigo glanced about again, now becoming slowly open to the fact that someone was possibly playing a trick on him, and all thoughts immediately centered around two ginger-haired brothers (who at that moment sneezed simultaneously in the cafeteria). A frown settled upon Ichigo's face as he yet again found that no one was in the room with him, but even before he attempted to eat his lunch again, the tapping noise began once more, and this time Ichigo found his attention taken to the wall of windows off to his immediate left.

The sharp _tap, tap _was coming from the windows; particularly coming from a small sparrow that was sitting perched on the window ledge and looking into the classroom. The little bird cocked its head as it realized it was being stared at, and then immediately began tapping on the window once more.

Now, by all means, Eniwa Ichigo was no where near being superstitious like his father, uncle, and grandmother were; however, he was a subscriber to unlikely coincidences, and this whole bird tapping on the glass thing and keeping him from lunch was definitely a renewal of that subscription.

Quirking a brow, eyes wide nonetheless, Ichigo watched the little sparrow that seemed to be staring directly at him for a good two minutes or so before it seemed to loose interest and fly off elsewhere, leaving the orange-haired teen to his own jumble of thoughts. A moment of silence passed before the _thud _of Ichigo's forehead hitting the desk resounded in a deaf echo through the classroom. A second later and the chair Ichigo was sitting in, scraped backwards across the hard floor of the room, stopping at a place where Ichigo's forehead could continue to sit on the desk lip for a moment longer before exhaling heavily.

Reluctantly, Ichigo left the safety of the classroom behind and wandered off into the massive halls to find the cafeteria. With hands tucked into the pockets of his black pants, Ichigo huffed quietly while attempting to remember exactly where the cafeteria was from memory recall of the map he had been given on the first day. Unfortunately for Ichigo... his known sense of direction inside of confusing maze-like buildings was absolutely horrible, as was now relavant to the fact as the orange-haired teen how somehow found himself out on one of the open-air patio decks. A patio deck located way on the other end of the South Building.

For a moment Ichigo remained quiet, eyes slowly roving over the area that matched not only the décor of the building's architecture, but also the color scheme. Slowly, a frown started to form upon his young visage before turning into a complete brooding scowl as his shoulders hunched forward. "Where the hell am I?" He muttered sourly while narrowing his eyes in annoyance.

The patio deck he had stepped out into was rather large with a black rod iron set of patio furniture arranged around the spacious area in manner that suggested it was more of a place to rest and relax than anything else. Beyond the banister railing of the patio was the massive stretch of manicured lawns that surrounded the sprawling grounds, patches of neatly trimmed flower beds circled about the main center piece of the South Building's campus – a marble mermaid fountain/pond. It was all rather beautiful, elegant even, if the word happened to come to Ichigo's mind.

Exhaling an irritated sigh, Ichigo rubbed at the back of his neck absentmindedly in an attempt to quell his building frustrations. _I really should have known better. In fact, I should have just ignored that damn bird and just eaten my lunch when I had the chance. _His brow furrowed as the self-berating thoughts plagued his train of thought for the moment. Another exhale and Ichigo shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants before plopping himself down on the nearest chair, which happened to be closest to the banister railing. Both feet were soon propped up on the lip of the railing, legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, while amber eyes stared up at the sky high above.

_So, what do you think mom? How do you feel about your daughter, your only child, cross-dressing to save her cousins' future? I feel like a complete idiot myself to be honest; pretending to be someone that I'm not and fooling everyone around me. What happened to me mom? _Ichigo continued to stare up at the sky, eyes narrowing at his own thoughts while biting back a growl he wouldn't even allow to get anywhere passed his throat.

The rather mute but still distinctly heard creak of the patio double doors opening only on one side caught Ichigo's otherwise detered attention from the sky. Merely turning his orange-colored head, Ichigo was immediately met with a rather large pair of bright brown eyes that were staring back in what could only be described as child-like wonder. For a good ten seconds Ichigo forgot not only the ability to speak, but also the ability to blink apparently before shock finally set in. Twisting about in a flurry of blue and black movement, Ichigo had scrambled up out of his seat and whipped about to stare **down **at a blonde-haired and brown-eyed boy who couldn't be any more than four feet tall.

Like his eyes, the boy expressed a look of complete wonder at the High School student before him, whom of course was staring at him with a horribly confused and dumbfounded look. Silence passed between the two parties for about two seconds before the blonde cracked one of the largest smiles Ichigo had ever seen, and then proceeded to fling himself at the amber-eyed boy, wrapping small arms about Ichigo's slim waist while giggling. With a few awkward steps backwards in response to the sudden hug from the completely unknown boy, Ichigo bumped into the banister railing behind him and immediately went rigid with arms held up and at his sides to keep them from being pinned at his sides.

"Ichi-chan! I can't believe we found you out here!!" The blonde boy chirped excitedly as he beamed up at Ichigo, using a nickname without even having had an official introduction between the two.

"I-Ichi-chan...?" Too dumbstruck to actually comprehend anything that was going on right now, Ichigo could only stare with a very much confused expression on his face and stutter out the nickname in question. _Wait a minute... we?! Whose this we?!_

"See, Takashi? Tama-chan was right, he does look cool with that orange hair!" The blonde giggled while looking over his shoulder towards the patio doors.

Immediately, Ichigo's gaze snapped up and at the patio entryway where he had apparently missed the towering dark-haired boy standing just one step in on the patio deck. _Oh... 'we'... WHO THE HELL'S THE GIANT?!_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

_Getting Acquainted_

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"_Cousin!" _**- Stitch, **_**Disney's Lilo & Stitch**_

_**

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**_

Ichigo rubbed at the back of his neck in a nervous manner as the small blonde swung about his waist as if he were Maypole. Not exactly a common thing to have a random stranger appear seemingly out of nowhere and latch upon your waist in an overly zealous hug. Or at least that's how Ichigo viewed it as he stared down at the happily grinning boy that had ceased swinging about his waist to merely stand before him with head tilted completely up. Big brown eyes stared up at Ichigo with a sort of wonderment that only served to further confuse the orange haired boy. It may have only been a week at Ouran, and Ichigo had met quite a decent amount of people, but he was more than certain he had not in any way interacted with this diminutive blonde.

_I couldn't have. He looks like he's in the elementary department of the school. I haven't been over to the elementary department yet, so how in the hell does this kid know my name?! And why is he calling me Ichi-chan?!?!_

The faint sound of movement snatched Ichigo's attention away from not only his thoughts, but also the boy still firmly latched to his waist. Eyes lifted to where the tall dark-haired boy _had_ been. What scared Ichigo the most about the unknown giant that seemed to have followed the blonde to the patio, was the fact that the guy was apparently capable of moving rather quickly, seeing as how he had crossed a space of what Ichigo estimated to be somewhere around twelve feet within two seconds. Feeling a bit overshadowed by the _very_ tall black haired boy (or should he be referring to him as a man?), Ichigo swallowed in a shaky manner but did his best to cover it up. "U-Um..." He nearly squeaked out the uncertainty he had to suddenly being the center of attention.

The tall boy's dark eyes shifted over to the blonde who was still firmly latched to the rather nervous looking Ichigo. He bent at the waist slowly with hands in his trouser pockets, stopping only when he came level with the blonde's ear. "Mitsukuni, perhaps it would best if you allowed Eniwa-san to breathe for a moment." The deep baritone of his voice seemed to rumble up in a sort of purr from somewhere deep within his chest; or that was how Ichigo could seem to reason as he heard it.

The diminutive blonde paused in his jovial swing about Ichigo's waist and took on a thoughtful look for a moment before suddenly smiling and nodding his head with a massive smile still plastered all over his face as he looked up at the orange-haired boy. "Neh, neh, Ichi-chan!" The boy seemed far to chipper in Ichigo' opinion, "What are you doing out here on the patio? Aren't you hungry?" He inquired, head tilting to the side in a slight quirk.

For a moment Ichigo could have sworn that the blonde looked almost identical to a puzzled little puppy as they stared at one another. There was no other way to put it, and Ichigo knew this, but the little guy that was still clinging to his waist was horribly cute. _Way too cute... in fact it should be illegal how cute this kid is. _"Uh... well you see..." He stammered out while unconsciously rubbing a hand across the back of his neck. "I sort of..." Ichigo trailed off while glancing down at his shoes, the right one kicking slightly at the ground the best it could with the small blonde boy still clamped about his waist.

"You got lost."

Ichigo's head snapped up, eyes wide as they stared at the towering dark haired giant still standing in front of him, hands now casually shoved into the pockets of his school uniform. There's was something a little unnerving about the guy that Ichigo couldn't quite put his finger on. And 'quite' was entirely stressed at this point as what seemed like several different reasons slammed against the front of Ichigo's skull in a skidding halt. First and foremost, the guy was just way too freaking tall for a High School student, and there was something about the horribly placid demeanor that was plastered across his face and drenching his posture. The greatest of all these thoughts focused around how the guy apparently seemed to be a psychic as he had not questioned, so much as stated, that Ichigo had indeed gotten lost. Very lost. Swallowing hard, Ichigo nodded in a jerked manner as his thought process failed to form a coherent sentence at that moment for a verbal reply.

Glancing between his dark haired companion and Ichigo, the blonde took a few seconds to process what had been said then came to the final conclusion with a massive grin on his face as he focused all attention on Ichigo. "Hehe, Ichi-chan got lost on his way to lunch." The blonde chirped playfully while looking rather amused by this sudden revelation that had come to him.

Opening his mouth to protest that such a thing had happened as he didn't want admit to having gotten so easily lost, Ichigo's own stomach betrayed him as it let out a low grumble to show just how hungry the teen was. With an exasperated sigh Ichigo hung his head and a gave a mute 'yes' in response to both statements that had been in made in commentary of his current predicament. Getting lost hadn't been his fault though, it was the fault of the school building itself – or that was how Ichigo was seeing it at the moment – that he had gotten so turned around on what should have been a short trip. A small giggle and the feeling of being poked in the stomach snapped Ichigo to attention and brought amber eyes to stare at the blonde with a sort of startled gaze.

"Ichi-chan's tummy talked!" The blonde announced aloud with a giggle before turning his head to glance back over his shoulder at his taller companion yet again. "Neh, neh, Takashi! Let's take Ichi-chan to lunch before the bell rings!!"

"Huh?!" Ichigo nearly sputtered, eyes flickering between the two in a rapid manner. He barely knew these two boys, and as far as he knew they barely knew who he was, especially since this was what Ichigo knew to be their first meeting. While it seemed as though this really was something completely random, there was the nagging thought at the back of Ichigo's mind that demanded caution as it was possible that the twin demons – albeit they had eased up on their usual teasing of Ichigo as they were more entertained in watching him turn Tamaki down repeatedly – had their hands in this situation. Before Ichigo even knew what was going on, the orange-haired boy found himself being dragged by the hand across the patio by the over zealous blonde who was babbling on about something he hadn't caught at the beginning. Ichigo didn't know what was more startling about the situation he was in – being dragged along by someone less than half his size, or that he was hardly putting up a fight – whichever it was, the teen was unable to even fully process the thought as they were already back inside the school building and heading off down the hall.

Ichigo could only blink dumbly as the rattling chatter of the small blonde was lost on him completely as he seemed more focus on maintaining his balance, albeit it was a pathetic attempt to maintain his balance in such an oddly stooped manner as he was pulled down by the fast grip of the blonde boy, but it was an attempt to not look even more ridiculous in his stumbling pace by face planting straight into the carpeted hall floor. Although he had yet to fully confirm it by looking over his shoulder, Ichigo could sense the other boy's presence right behind them as his long stride no doubt kept him at perfect pace with their strange power walk.

"Neh, neh, Ichi-chan!" The blonde grinned happily over his shoulder at the orange-haired teen he had by the hand, innocently oblivious to the completely befuddled expression that painted Ichigo's face at that moment. "What do you want to eat for lunch?" Genuine curiosity evident in his voice as he sought out Ichigo's choice in food.

"U-Um, well, actually I was..." Stuttering slightly while catching himself before tripping on his own two feet, Ichigo tried to piece together a decent way to explain to the diminutive blonde that he had been in the process of eating his lunch when his chopsticks had betrayed him. However, words were obviously failing the poor boy as he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly with nothing more than a mere muted croak coming out before he snapped his mouth shut in defeat.

A giggle escaped the blonde boy – called Mitsukuni early out on the patio – as he seemed to find Ichigo's lack of words somewhat entertaining apparently or however he seemed to view it. Changing his pace, the blonde released Ichigo's hand in favor of encircling the boys' arm with his own, clinging again as he had before to Ichigo's waist. "Tama-chan was right, Ichi-chan really is fun to be around!" The blonde chirped while cuddling Ichigo's arm, his big smile fixed permanently to his face as he practically beam kilowatts up at Ichigo.

Rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, and thankful for the fact that they had stopped the rather hurried walk down the hall, Ichigo looked a bit more confused than he already was as he glanced down at the blonde. Two things were nagging at the forefront of the soiree of multiple questions that were currently racing through his head – who exactly were these two boys (and also who they knew his name) and just who in the hell was this 'Tama-chan' that the blonde kept talking about?!

Licking his lips, Ichigo struggled minutely for a decent way to approach the question of the blonde's name as the last thing he wanted to do was possibly offend the two before even properly getting to know them. "Uh, I don't believe that I, uh..." Ichigo grimaced mentally, _Great way to show your intelligence Ichigo!_

As if interpreting the ragged and unfinished question with clear clarity, the tall boy lifted a lazy brow, lips tweaking slightly in silent amusement before he spoke up. "Mitsukuni. Haninotsuka Mitsukuni." He nodded down at the blonde that clung to Ichigo's arm as he received a rather puzzled look from over the shoulder. He then inclined his head slightly, indicating to himself now before speaking further. "Morinozuka Takashi."

Ichigo blinked once with a slightly dumbfounded look on his face as he met the dark grey gaze of the now properly introduced Morinozuka Takashi. He was tempted to ask how Takashi had even come around to the conclusion that he was trying to ask their names, but instead opted to remain quiet on the question and just except it as it was. Now the question was – did Ichigo need to properly introduce himself or did these two already know his full name? _Great, another freaking problem. _Ichigo exhaled a sigh quietly beneath his breath as he continued to debate with himself over the matter, until of course his mental debate was abruptly interrupted by a tug on his arm from Mitsukuni.

The second he had Ichigo's amber gaze on him, the blonde was all smiles yet again. "You haven't answered my question yet Ichi-chan."

"Uh...?" Ichigo blinked dumbly as he was starting the confused loop all over again. _Dammit._

Mitsukuni giggled and gave Ichigo's arm a light squeeze. "Ichi-chan is so easily distracted." He grinned, but even though his tone was light and bubbling with laughter, something about it seemed almost close possibly reprimanding in some strange way or other. Without even missing a beat, the fact that Ichio's face had nearly flushed scarlet in response to his comment overlooked, Mitsukuni jabbed a directional finger ahead of them as they were now more than a few feet from the bustling cafeteria that offered up light echoing murmurs of hundreds of conversations going on at once. "Let's have cake!" He announced as loudly as possible before unhooking his arms from Ichigo to once more take his hand and dash forward into the cafeteria with Ichigo struggling to keep up and not be literally dragged across the floor.

A comical sight to say the least, the much taller teen being forced to stumble and maintain some sense of balance while being hauled about by a much smaller student, and the only person watching with the barest hint of a grin was Morinozuka Takashi. Shrugging slowly to himself as he followed after the now long gone pair, Morinozuka entered the cafeteria and hardly had a problem locating Mitsukuni and Ichigo. First instinct directed the taller boy towards the dessert area of the cafeteria catering tables, the second was of course to spot the shock of orange hair that belonged to the only student in Ouran who had such a color... which he did.

"Wah! Oh, they all look so good!!" Mitsukuni squealed while wriggling in place out of absolute delight as he stared at the plethora of various dessert items that were spread out before him on the long slender catering table. Everything from Strawberry Shortcake to Castella; Italian Cream Cake to Tortes and Tarts; there was a never ending sea of sugar, cream, and chocolate that could feed an army and then some while possibly inducing a diabetic coma all at the same time. Putting a finger to his lips, Mitsukuni stared at the cakes before him with a look of indecisive torment as he simply wanted to sweep an arm-full off the table rather than pick a single item from the delicious assortment. "But which one do I take?" He murmured, tone nearly forlorn as he pouted at the tough choice before him.

Ichigo on the other hand stood off to the side with a rather impressed and yet obviously surprised look as he stood at a slightly rigid stance while eying the laden table of sweets. Never before had he seen such a massive spread of confectionery delights that could rival that of the display counters at the local bakery he had grown up around. There were desserts that were familiar enough in appearance that Ichigo recognized immediately, but not without a slight hint of hesitation, and then there were the desserts that Ichigo tilting his head to the side and blinking owlishly at. One particular dessert had caught his undivided attention, its funnel shaped body constructed entirely from what looked like glossy threads had the poor boy scratching the back of his head while Mitsukuni literally raced up and down the table blabbering out random thoughts and questions.

_Damn. What the hell is that thing? _Ichigo's lips twitched into a small frown as he crossed his arms and stared at the dessert that had seemingly caught his attention and kept it. _It looks like someone took a bunch of string and glued it all together. People eat this stuff?_ Exhaling a sigh while shaking his head, Ichigo glanced over to his left where Mitsukuni was now scooping up his chosen dish and grinning like a mad man. Smiling slightly at the rather child-like joy that was radiating from the blonde, Ichigo started to return his attention to the strange dessert when his hand was snatched yet again and was subsequently dragged off yet again. Fortunately though it wasn't far that Ichigo was dragged, as the orange-haired teen blinked dumbly at the rather fancy chair he was left standing near at an equally fancy table that seemed rather odd in such a place as a cafeteria. In fact...

_SERIOUSLY?! _Stunned was the only word that could fully function as a means of describing the look on Ichigo's face as his gaze slowly roved about the massive dinning hall that he had been referring to as a cafeteria since the first day. The vaulted ceilings lifted high overhead with a gothic arch style that matched the rest of the high fashion-like architecture of Ouran. Large near floor to ceiling windows sat within one entire wall that looked as though it could nearly be endless as it stretched further than anything Ichigo was used to for an eating space. A wall of sunlight poured into the dinning hall, causing the white washed tables and chairs of finely crafted wrought iron to nearly glitter beneath the rays as students moved to and fro about the massive space. It was then that Ichigo finally breathed in deeply and found himself nearly assaulted by a vast variety of food smells that were brand new to his limited pallet.

A small giggle brought Ichigo out of his rambling thoughts, the stunned expression dropping from his face in favor of a slightly confused one as he looked over at the happy blonde who was now seated with a fork in hand and half of his chocolate cream cake now gone. "Ichi-chan is funny!"

Ichigo could only arch a brow in response to Mitsukuni's comment, the abundance of confusion overly apparent as he just stared. It took the sudden production of a soft chuckle from behind Ichigo to cause the teen to nearly jump straight up into the air. Takashi had appeared so suddenly without so much as a sound, aside from the chuckle he had given at that moment to make his presence known, that Ichigo swore up and down to himself then and there he would never ever get on this guys' bad side ever. The slight twitch of Takashi's lips at the corner was the only indication to the slight amount of amusement that he found in the wide-eyed look he was receiving. Almost shrugging at the reaction, Takashi pulled one hand from his pocket and simply reached out for the chair that Ichigo had been standing behind and simply tugged at it to pull the seat out a bit, which in turn forced Ichigo to take a few steps back as well. While he didn't entirely turn his head to look at him, the mere flicker of eye movement in Ichigo's direction was enough of a subtle hint as Takashi released the chair and made his way around the table to the empty chair of Mitsukuni's other side.

The orange-haired boy could begin to imagine just how incredibly unintelligent he had been looking throughout the entire time he had been suddenly been spending with these two new faces. The expressions of dumbfounded confusion, puzzlement, and whatever else had crossed his face had surely given them insight to what was not even close to Ichigo's actual personality; which of course had Ichigo mentally wincing at even now as he was quite sure he once again had a confused look on his face as he glanced from the pulled out chair to Takashi, and then back to the chair in several double-takes. It wasn't until Mitsukunis' muffled giggle through a mouthful of cake came that Ichigo suddenly broke out into a horribly bright red flush of embarrassment before promptly taking his seat and scooting in slightly towards the table. Drilling his amber-eyed gaze into the table top, Ichigo sat as straight and rigid as a board with hands firmly clasped together in his lap as he tried to swallow down the horrendous color that stained his face at the moment.

"Ichi-chan," Mitsukuni paused before he could finish sentence, swiping another bite of cake into his mouth before continuing on, "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

The question had Ichigo's head snapping up as he hadn't quite expected that to come out of his mouth. Both eyes were a bit wider, but not saucer-sized as they had been a moment ago, as he met the eager brown-eyed stare of the blonde who was happily swinging his feet as he sat with quiet anticipation to the answer he wanted to hear. Ichigo shrugged lamely, "Uh, no I don't actually. But I am pretty close with my cousin, so I guess he's sort of... like me... brother..." His sentence trailed off slowly in response the rather gaping stare that he was receiving from the small blonde, which was actually starting unnerve Ichigo a bit as a rather odd silence crept between them and made the orange-haired student squirm slightly in his seat.

"You have a cousin?" Mitsukuni spoke up finally; slowly and sounding a bit shaky as he did so. "Is he older than you?" There was an immediate change in his tone, a pressing air that was politely demanding an answer from Ichigo now as he had apparently forsake the last bit of his cake in favor of getting answers.

"No, we're the same age. Well, actually, he's a few months older than me really." Ichigo held a rather thoughtful look on his face as he revised his answer. "We were even born in the same hospital too if I'm not mistaken. And I think my dad said we were both born at night with an hour difference... uh? A-Are you okay?" A worried look flashed over Ichigo's face as he had watched Mitsukuni lower his fork to the table and set it aside as he lowered his head to the point where his chin rested against his chest. The second his fingers had left the fork, Mitsukuni's shoulders began to shake slightly, which even further worried Ichigo as he sent several panicked glanced at the quietly sitting Takashi. "Um...?"

"THAT'S SO COOL!!!"

Ichigo nearly did a backflip out of his chair.

In all but a split second Mitsukuni's head had snapped up as the blonde hoped up to stand in his chair while planting both hands down on the table top with a rough slap that caused the dishwares to rattle slightly. He had leaned as far forward as he possibly could across the table, eyes beaming with the same exact smile that graffitied his face. "Ichi-chan has a cousin he's very very close with!! You're just like me and Takashi!!" Mitsukuni cried happily while pointing quickly at the still silent Takashi, who in turn nodded to confirm what was being said to the bewildered stare of Ichigo that soon followed. "And you're even the same age as one another!! Just like me and Takashi!!" He gasped, eyes watering with overjoy at the sudden revelations and connections he was making for himself out loud.

Ichigo offered the blonde a small apprehensive smile. "Uh, cool I guess." He chuckled lightly, sheepishly even at the small amount attention that had suddenly been drawn their way from the over zealous shouts of Mitsukuni. Ignoring the several odd stares and the faint murmurs as a few shook their heads and returned to lunch, Ichigo could only continue chuckling before reality snapped him to attention his brain finally processing the last statement that Mitsukuni had said... primarily about his blonde self and his incredibly quiet, towering giant of a cousin.

"Wait what?!" Ichigo stared slack jawed at the two with a darting look between that had the teen reeling at the obvious physical discoveries that he should have picked up on almost immediately out on the patio. _Why in the hell didn't I realize Mitsukuni was wearing the High School uniform?! How the hell are these two even cousins at the same age when he's so... and he's so... _Ichigo stared at the two completely polar opposite looking boys before relinquishing his attempt to even try and piece it all together in a logical manner that wouldn't damage his brain in any manner. However, that was neigh impossible as Ichigo's thought process balked at the idea of forgoing the attempt of structuring this situation out in a manner that would make sense, favoring the the mentally painful and tedious manner in which he was going to straighten this out for himself. _I could have sworn Mitsukuni was in an elementary grade!! He looks like he should be!! What is he; four foot nothing, if that?! It doesn't make any sense!!!!!!!!_

The wonders never ceased at Ouran, and the school year was far from over.


End file.
